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ON THE FORMS OF BETROTHAL AND WEDDING 
CEREMONIES IN THE OLD-FRENCH ROMANS 
D’ AVENTURE 


F. L. CRITCHLOW 


SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, FOR 
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ..... 


1903 





ON THE FORMS OF BETROTHAL AND WEDDING 
CEREMONIES IN THE OLD-FRENCH ROMANS 
D’ AVENTURE .... 


j* - 

c- - 

F. L. CRITCHLOW 

• • 


SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, FOR 
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. 


1903 




Gift 

The University 

IdJt'fti 


ON THE FORMS OF BETROTHAL AND WEDDING 
CEREMONIES IN THE OLD-FRENCH ROMANS 
D'A VENTURE. 

“Amurs n’est pruz, se n’est egals.”— Equitan , v. 141. 

HISTORICAL SURVEY. 

The compositions, known in French literature as Romans 
d*Aventure, flourished at a time dating from the last quarter of the 
twelfth to the closing decades of the thirteenth century . 1 During 
this period, of which the greatest part was occupied by the reign 
of Louis IX, the Roman Church succeeded finally to supreme 
control of the jurisdiction of marriage . 2 From a stage where the 
church had to depend upon the civil authority for the mainte¬ 
nance of religious discipline such as was administered under Pepin 
and Charlemagne 3 to a stage where the church became all-suffi¬ 
cient in matters of its own government, represents a space of five 
centuries. At the end of this period came the fourth Later an 
Council where publicity of the marriage ceremony was definitely 
ordained and the institution of banns was fixed by canonical law . 4 
For all this, a marriage contracted without the benediction of the 
church possessed entire validity, as a civil contract, though the 
church looked upon such unions with a frown . 5 

1 Professor F. M. Warren sets the period of excellence of the Romans d'Aventure 
between the years 1190 and 1250 A. D., although, as he suggests, Philippe de Beaumanoir 
wrote La Manikine and Blonde d'Oxford after the latter date; cf. Modern Language Asso¬ 
ciation Proceedings, Vol. II, p. xvii (Baltimore, 1887). Cf. also G. Paris, Manuel d'ancien 
Frangais , §§ 51 and 65-68 (Paris, 1890). 

2 Cf. L. Beauchet, Etude historique sur les formes de la calibration du mariage dans 
Vancien droit frangais (Paris, 1888), p. 14. 

3 For the relation of church to state under Charlemagne cf. Allen, Christian History 
(Boston, 1883), Second Period, Vol. I, p. 11: “ Of Charlemagne’s capitularies or imperial laws, 
f rill y one-half may be set down as dealing with matters that .... belong purely to the 
spiritual power.” 

±In 1215 A. D.; cf. the ruling of the church in Conciliorum omnium generalium et pro- 
vincialium collectio regia (Paris, 1644) ,Vol. XXVIII, p. 204: “Cum inhibitis copulae coniugalis 

sit in tribus gradibus revocata, earn in aliis volumus distincte observari.Quare 

specialem quorundam locorum consuetudinem ad alia generaliter prorogando statuimus ut, 
cum matrimonia fuerint contrahenda, in ecclesiis per presbyteros publice proponantur, 
competenti termino praefinito ut infra ilium qui voluerit et valuerit legitimum impedi- 
mentum opponat.” 

5 Cf. E. DuM^ril, Etudes d'archiologie et d'histoire littiraire (Paris, 1862), p. 6, for the 
mediaeval doggerel of the common people who rendered the maxim: Consensus facit 
nuptias by: 

[497 1 


[Modern Philology, April, 1905 



2 


F. L. Critchlow 


That a marriage, consummated outside the auspices of the 
church, was nevertheless valid, is explained by the fact that in 
both canon and civil law the condition of a marriage contract was 
the mutual consent of the principals. The civil law read: Ubi 
non est consensus non est matrimonium; those who conformed 
thereto could not be denied the privileges of the church . 1 Still, 
the early church attitude toward marriage, that of a sacrament/ 
and the constant watchfulness of the civil authorities to protect 
the sanctity of the marital pledge tended to place the functions, 
both of betrothal and of marriage solemnization, in the hands 
of the priests . 3 So that, although the civil law criterion of valid 
union was the simple consent of the principals , 4 the growth of the 
spiritual power was such that, eventually, the marriage of a woman 
to a man came to mean a religious rite, without the sanctification 
of which by the church, validity was impaired . 5 This view is 
further confirmed by the fact that the formulae of nuptial blessing 
pronounced by the priest have been changed, in their wording, to 
read as an exclusive and indispensable benediction . 0 

Boire, manger, coucher ensemble 
Est manage, ce me semble. 

The nobles also shared this same idea of license; cf. Guillaume de Dole , vv. 224-27: 

II ne pensent pas a lor ames; 

Si n’i ont cloches ne moustiers, 

Qu’il n’en est mie granz mestiers, 

Ne chapelains fors les oiseaus. 

1 From earliest times it was allowed that a man could be married outside the church 
and without its benediction and yet not suffer excommunication therefor. Cf. Beauchet, 
op. cit ., pp. 1, 2, in his references to the Councils of Toledo (400 A. D.), Mayence (815 A. D.), 
and of Tibur (895 A. D.). The decision upon this matter in the first provincial council of 
Toledo is given thus: “Caeterum qui non habet uxorem et pro uxore concubinum habet, a 
communione non repellatur, tamen ut unius mulieris aut uxoris aut concubinae sit conjunc- 
tione contentus.” 

2 Cf. Tertullianus, contra Marcion , lib. v, cap. 18; ibid., ad uxorem, lib. iv, cap. viii. 

3 Cf. Ambrosius, de Abraham , lib. iv, cap. 7. 

4 Cf. B. Brisson, Dejure connubiorum , in Vol. VIII, col. 1098 D, of the Thesaurus antiqui- 
iatum Romanarum (Utrecht, 1698). 

5 Cf. J.-A. Brutails, Etude sur la condition des populations rurales de Roussillon au 
moyen-dge (Paris, 1891), p. 117: “Le manage 6tait, avant tout, aux yeux de nos p&res un 
sacrement: c’est assez dire quel role le droit canonique a jou6 en ces mati&res.” 

6 The priest, originally, uttered these words before the man and woman at the altar: 
“ Matrimonium per vos contractum, egotanquam minister Dei, confirmo, ratifico et benedico 
in nomine Patris,” etc.; this formula does not date prior to the thirteenth century. The 
formula of the present time has these words: “ Vos in matrimonium conjungo,” etc., which 
arose from a confusion of the civil contract and the sacrament. Cf. T.-M.-J. Gousset 
TMologie dogmatique , Vol. II, cap. 2, cited in Beauchet, op. cit., p. 41. 

498 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 


3 


Tlie requirement of a church ceremony for marriage did not 
exist in civil law during the period of the Romans d?Aventure, nor 
was there any such obligation until the Ordonnances de Blois 
(under Henri III, 1579) which prescribed a public service. 

The ceremonials of marriage as described in the Romans 
d?Aventure are the historical outgrowth of three distinct traditions, 
namely, the Latin, the Teutonic, and the Romanist Christian. At 
the time of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Latin 1 and 
Teutonic elements had produced the completed French ceremonies 
of the sponsalia or preliminary contract of marriage, while to the 
Christian belonged the functions of the matrimonium or the sac¬ 
rament of marriage. The sponsalia were the secular and the 
matrimonium the spiritual phases of mediaeval marriage; the 
former had to do more strictly with the civil, the latter with the 
church authorities. In the Romans d*Aventure each function 
has its own observances and separate character. From the fore¬ 
going it can be seen how, by degrees, the increased prestige of 
the church 2 brought about the absorption of parts of the sponsalia 
ceremony into the sphere of the matrimonium formalities with the 
purpose of imbuing the whole marriage celebration with a religious 
spirit and of ridding that ceremony of any taint of barter which 
profane tradition had always attached to nuptials both in Latin 
and Teutonic history.* Indeed, the influence of the church has 
prevailed to such an extent in the ceremonies of marriage that 
sponsalia and matrimonium have been changed about in impor¬ 
tance as compared with their position at the period of the Frankish 
immigrations. 4 Approximately, the midpoint of this long transi¬ 
tion marks the era of the Romans cT Aventure. 

1 Cf. A. Dantier, Les femmes dans la soci&ti. chr&tienne (Paris, 1879,2 vols.),Vol. I, p. 309. 

2 Cf. Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire g£n6rale (Paris, 1893), Vol. II, pp. 253-65. 

3 Cf. A. Bouche-Leclercq, Manuel des institutions romaines (Paris, 1886), p. 377. Cf. 
also in/ra, p. 21, n. 2; at Rome the idea of purchase in marriage expressed itself only in 
symbol. The dos (called dotarium in the barbarian laws) designated the liberality of the 
husband to the wife, and was indispensable to legitimate marriage, distinguishing that from 
the concubinate by the fact that the dos was given. So the church ( Concil . Arelat.^2.i A. D., 
§ I, 4), adopted the same form of sponsalia: “ Nullum sine dote fiat conjugium; juxta possi- 
bilitatem fiat dos, nec sine publicis nuptiis quisquam nubere vel uxorem ducere praesumat.” 

4Cf. Robertson’s statement in his Essays (London, 1878), p. 173: “We now give the 
name betrothal to the wedding of our forefathers, having transferred the older name and 
greater importance of the desponsatio et dotatio to the traditio et sanctificatio or the 
giving away. The wedding was the civil contract, deriving its name from the weds , pledges 

499 


4 


F. L. Critchlow 


TUTELAGE. 

The status of a noblewoman in the thirteenth and fourteenth 
centuries, as regards her marriage, was of a political rather than a 
domestic character. In the feudal regime, after the period when 
the fief had become hereditary, the difficulty arose of maintaining 
a domain secure, in case the successor to the fief was a minor or 
an unmarried woman. The patrimonial fief system vested a power 
in a father over his daughter, similar in nature to the control of 
the paterfamilias in the Roman family. And, here, it should be 
noted that the later feudal period shows a return to Roman ideas 
of guardianship as against the Germanic family system repre¬ 
sented by early feudalism. Both the paternal power over a woman 
and the recognition of a sister’s right to succeed, equally with a 
brother, to her parent’s estate, are traceable to Roman influence. 
A daughter who married into a family outside the dominion of a 
seigneur , under whom she had hitherto been subject, was com¬ 
pelled to renounce her patrimony, in view of her marriage. 

To renounce, therefore, implies that a woman was possessed of 
the right of succession 1 and with the recognition of that right 
came other privileges which meant the amelioration of woman’s 
position before the law. Such changes were brought about very 
slowly, so that even at the twelfth century the marriage of noble 
women was a purely political affair conducted under the auspices 
of the suzerain concerned, who granted a woman’s body, in the 
same breath in which he bestowed the rights and duties of the 
fief which went with her, upon the man he had selected . 2 In 
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there is the testimony of 
the Romans d’Aventure presenting plainly, as they do, the con¬ 
ditions of later feudal times, especially with reference to women 
of noble rank. These romances do not make a woman so wholly 
abject before her superiors as is the case with the Chansons de 

or securities, that passed between the bridegroom and the parents, or the guardians, of the 
bride. The giving away represented the final completion of the marriage after the neces¬ 
sary arrangements had been concluded, and upon this conclusion .... a priest was to be 
present in order to sanctify the legal union with the blessing of the Church.” 

1 Cf. E. Laboulaye, Recherches sur la condition civile et politique des femmes depuis 
les Romains jusqu'a nos jours (Paris, 1843), pp. 210-15. 

2 P. Pabis, Romans de la Table Ronde (Paris, 1877), Vol. V, p. 159. 

500 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 


5 


Geste; on the contrary, the Romans d'Aventure represent noble¬ 
women objecting forcibly to marriages thrust upon them and 
distasteful to them on account of the motive by which a suzerain 
was prompted to consummate these unions for his own material 
ends . 1 Such remonstrances, from their cogency and frequent 
occurrence, prove that the Romans d'Aventure portray a new 
period in which woman is no longer a mere subject of barter, as 
she once had been, but that she has emerged from the lowly con¬ 
dition where she was looked upon as a chattel in marriage trans¬ 
actions and has acquired a fair amount of independence . 2 

Abstractly considered, a woman of noble birth had had from 
early times an inherent right to accept or reject, at will, any prop¬ 
osition of marriage made to her or her guardians , 3 but this right 
was not held sacred, it may with truth be said, at any part of 
the feudal period. As far back as the sixth century Chlotaire I 
declared null the authorizations obtained to marry women against 
their will . 4 Numerous documents are extant which show that a 
father did not believe he had the power to marry his daughter, 
contrary to her own wishes, nor without consulting his lord and 
his own friends . 5 Not seldom, the Romans d'Aventure present 
cases of a woman being allowed to accept or refuse an intended 
husband, even when the offer has been made by one whose word, 
if need be, could readily force her to a decision . 6 

A WOMAN IN THE TUTELAGE OF HER FATHER. 

Under this rubric are to be found examples in the Romans 
d'Aventure which exhibit the nature of parental control in the 

1 Cf . R. Rosi^ebs, Histoire de la soci6M franQaise au moyen-age (Paris, 1882), Vol. I 
p. 33. 

2 Cf. Comte de Poitiers , vv. 9687-700; Fergus , vv. 215-22; Escanor, vv. 9310-19; La Chaste- 
laine de St. Gille , vv. 218-25; the young woman’s protest to her suitor: 

La rage vous tint, ce me semble, 

Quant vous h mon pere donastes 
L’avoir de q(u)oi vous m’achatastes, 

Ausi comme je fuisse'une beste. 

3 Cf. Raoul de Cambrai , vv. 6184-91, and L. Gautiee, La Chevalerie (Paris, 1884), p. 345. 

4T. M. LEHftEEOU, Histoire des Institutions mGrovingiennes et carolingiennes, 2 vols 

(Paris, 1843-44), Vol. I, pp. 150,151. 

5 Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 151,152. 

6 Cf. Comtesse de Ponthieu , vv. 84-93; Floris et Liriope , vv. 299-304; Paris et Vienne, p. 38; 
Li Livre de Baudoyn, p. 81. 


501 


6 


F. L. Critchlow 


Middle Ages. 1 A father’s word could create or unmake a 
betrothal arbitrarily. 2 By virtue of the mundium 3 which he 
held over his children he was, at one and the same time, their 
father and lord as well. 4 On the other hand, the part played by 
a mother was insignificant in comparison; whether she concurred 
in her daughter’s suit, or manifested disfavor of it, availed but 
little. 5 Exceptionally, however, occasions present themselves in 
the poems now in question, where a mother’s influence is brought 
to bear indirectly upon the subject of a suitor for her daughter, 
and with effect. 

The wishes of a woman about to be married, and for whom a 
marriage is being arranged, are seldom respected or consulted. 5 
In order to elude her father, therefore, she connives with her 
lover, who has been thrust aside by her unwilling parent for 
another, to defeat her lord’s purposes by a resort to ruse. 7 An 
indulgent father is, now and then, represented as not mindful 
whether his daughter marries or not, and seemingly leaves her 8 to 

1 Cf. L'Escoufle , vv. 2903-09; Joufrois, vv. 3487-98, 3301-06; Jehan et Blonde , vv. 2211-13, 
2229-34; Flore et Jehanne, p. 99 ( Bibl. Elz6v., 108, Paris, 1856); L'Atre pSrilleux, vv. 3784-88; 
Galerent , vv. 7655-63, 7669-72; Comtesse de Ponthieu, pp. 45, 46, A. Delvau [ed.] (Paris, 
1865); Floriant et Florete, vv. 5602-17; La Man4kine , vv. 511-18, 522-24; Escanor , vv. 94-106; 
Ipomedon , vv. 87-95, 10449-60, 10520, 10521. 

2 Cf. Flore et Jehanne , p. 95, where, speaking of a father’s power, it says: “il puet faire 
de sa fille sa volonte.” 

3 Cf. Du Cange, Gloss, med. et inf. Lat ., Vol. IV, p. 576, sub voce , and J. Michelet, Ori- 
gines du droit frangais (Paris, 1837), pp. 28, 29. 

4 Cf. E. Laboulaye, op. cit., p. 15; cf. also, L'Escoufle , vv. 2168-75; and Seynt Graal, 
ed. F. J. Furnivall (London, 1863): “Ie [Lamet] vous [PiersJ requier dont,” fait li rois 
lamer, “ ke vous prenes ma fille a feme par ensi que je vous saisirai de toute ma terre.” 
. . . . “Sires” fait pierres “vous fesistes ma requeste de ce que ie plus desiroie, et pour 
chou que vous le fesistes, ferai iou chou ke vous requeres.” Et li rois l’en merchie mult. 
Et fu la puchiele tout maintenant mandee si le fiancha pierres et le prist a feme. Et 
le iour ke les nueches furent i vint li rois luces. En la chite d’orchanie furent les nueches 
grans et plenieres s’i demoura li rois .viij. iours. 

5 Cf .L'Escoufle, vv. 2869-2904; note the expression of the mother to her husband the 
emperor: “ Je sui feme qui n’en puis mais, 

Si le m’estuet souffrir em pais.” 

Ibid., vv. 2897, 2898; cf. also Partonopeus de Blois , vv. 4343 11'. 

® Cf. L'Atre p&rilleux, vv. 3784-88: Jehan et Blonde , vv. 2229-34; Chevalier as deus esptes, 
vv. 4509-31. 

7 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 3038-75, where an eloping pair make good their escape by 
means of disguise in bearskins. Also in Floriant et Florete, vv. 5600-604, two young women 
concert a plan of evasion from home in order to meet their lovers who are some distance 
away. 

8 Cf. Escanor, vv. 94-106. For an example also of this same nature in epic poetry the 
passage in Raoul de Cambrai,xx. 5794-801, will serve well; vide T. Wright, Womankind in 
Western Europe (London, 1869), pp. Ill, 112, for remarks on this passage. Also, cf. P. 
Viollet, Histoire du droit civil frangais (Paris, 1880), p. 411, note; and supra , p. 5, n. 6. 

502 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 


7 


herself on the subject. Such cases are rare in the Romans 
d? Aventnre. 

The arbitrary character of a father’s will concerning his mar¬ 
riageable daughter is shown nowhere in the poems now under dis¬ 
cussion to be so truculent as in the example of a king of Hungary 
who falls in love with his own daughter and makes as if to marry 
her by force . 1 The young woman, learning that her father’s 
council of barons acquiesces and that permission for her marriage 
is about to arrive from the Pope, secures a heavy knife out of the 
royal kitchen, and, with it, severs her left hand. The provenience 
of this poem being oriental 2 it will not serve as an example of fact, 
although the accessory circumstances of the story give to the 
narrative an air of verisimilitude even on French soil . 3 

A WOMAN IN THE TUTELAGE OF HER BROTHER. 

Feudal life required that, once the head of the family was 
dead, the eldest son assume the function of parental control. A 
noblewoman, therefore, who had lost her father, was at her 
brother’s disposal in marriage, since to him had been transferred 
the mundium. By means of this right over her he could place 
her in the hands of whom he might see fit . 4 Naturally, this 
brother desired to marry her to one who would preserve well the 
fief which, with her hand in marriage, passed as dot over to him. 
One example in particular shows how several nobles, in adjacent 
domains, having expressed outwardly a desire to marry a certain 
noblewoman, grew angry with her brother because he had not 
acceded to the request of any one of them. Instead, her hand 
was proffered to a nobleman who, in the absence of the lord of 
the woman in question, had defended his estates from marauders 
and who, ultimately, received her in marriage, rather as a reward 
for material favors rendered. The ingratiating manner with 
which this guardian brother is represented in the poem to approach 

l Cf. La Mantkine, vv. 722-36. 

2 Cf. G. Paris, Litterature franQaise au moyen-age (Paris, 1890), pp. 84 and 211; also 
vide H. Suchier, S.A.T.F. (1884), Vol. XIX, p. lxxv. Cf. also E. du Meril, Floire et Blance- 
jlor , Introd., pp. cxli ff. (Paris, 1856), where the influence of decadent Greek literature upon 
early French poetry is treated. 

3 Cf. R. RosiJires, op. cit ., pp. 368-70, 

4 Cf. Ille et Galeron, vv. 1430-74. 


503 


8 


F. L. Critchlow 


his sister about the marriage, and the seeming deference paid 
her, are no doubt explainable from her brother’s motives . 1 

As indicative of this same material element surrounding mar¬ 
riage considerations a romance 2 dated at least twenty years later 
than the time of Ille et Galeron 3 just referred to, reveals a situa¬ 
tion in which the woman to be married is disposed of by her 
brother to a knight who was to become a liegeman of the king 
according to the marriage contract, and also to receive thereby, 
in return for services which the knight had rendered her brother, 
the woman’s hand in marriage. 

Following along the course of time in which the Romans 
d'Aventure occur, another romance , 4 illustrative of the point 
made above, may be noted whose date falls a score of years after 
the poem just cited. In this poem is presented a brother ready 
to offer his sister, together with a parcel of land, to a knight who 
has befriended him, and whom this brother desires to recompense 
for his timely deliverance from peril. Although the young 
woman’s hand and her brother’s lands are offered together in 
one to the knight, he, by exception, refuses in a courteous 
manner the property, but accepts the woman as an all-sufficient 
reward for his favors to her brother. Other examples are not 
wanting to demonstrate how, in a brother’s hand, a marriageable 
sister went to serve his material ends . 5 One case in point may be 
drawn from the last, in chronological order, of the Romans 
<VAventure 6 which evidences no change of attitude toward woman 
as compared with the example used above and occurring seven 
generations previously . 7 The episode, from this the latest of the 
extant romances, recounts how a brother secures the privilege to 
marry a certain noblewoman of his choice, by yielding his own 

1 Cf. ibid., vv. 952, 953 where it is to be noticed that Galeron has already refused the 
attentions of Rogelion, a nephew of a Breton lord. Cf. also supra, p. 5, n. 2. 

2 Cf. IpomGdon, between the dates A. D. 1174 and 1190; possibly 1185. 

3 Ca. 1167 A. D. 

* Guillaume de Palerne, in the S.A.T.F., Vol. XVIII, 1876; for the date of this poem 
vide p. xxii of this work. 

5 Guillaume de Dole , vv. 3079-89; this instance, however, portrays a subject acceding 
to a king’s request simply. Also vide CUomadk s, vv. 17616-22, and Escanor, vv. 6661-70, and 
Claris et Laris, vv. 7975-83. 

6 Cf. Sone de Nausay, Bibl. Litt. Ver. in Stuttgart, Vol. CCXVI, p. 8. 

7 Cf. supra, p. 7, n. 3. 


504 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 9 

sister to the brother of the man from whom he has, in this way, 
obtained permission to marry the latter’s sister. Heeding not at 
all his sister’s feelings in the matter of her choice of a husband, 
the young man seals agreement to her marriage and, by sacrificing 
her interests, gains his own. The seven specimens of fraternal 
guardianship above referred to evince clearly what was the char¬ 
acter of motive throughout appertaining to woman’s welfare. 
Five out of the seven examples just given make her marriage a 
quid pro quo in the furtherance of her brother’s purposes. 

A WOMAN IN THE TUTELAGE OF FEUDAL SUPERIORS. 

This subdivision of feudal guardianship concerns itself with 
the disposal of a woman in marriage when a lord or the advisory 
body of a ruler must execute this prerogative. 1 The contingen¬ 
cies incident to feudal life often brought a female vassal before 
her suzerain to be disposed of in marriage. As soon as feudal 
domains had been converted from concessions into patrimonies it 
devolved upon a suzerain to watch closely any possession within 
his confines where an heiress or a male minor held a fief. A 
woman, inheriting a fief, could not marry without the consent of 
her lord, who, moreover, might force her to marriage at her 
coming of age. If the lord paid no regard to this matter, when 
the heiress reached twelve years she was allowed to demand of 
him three noblemen to appear at his court, one of whom she had 
the right to choose. 2 In the Bomans d'Aventure , while no direct 
instance of this privilege of an heiress is given, there are cases 
which illustrate sufficiently the relation of suzerain to vassal. 3 
The example occurs of an emperor 4 who, desirous of requiting a 
nobleman for his valuable services as a conn6table, gives him in 
return the hand of a noblewoman of Genoa. A messenger of the 
emperor appears before this noblewoman with a summons to 
appear at court, directly, for her marriage, upon which she has 
not been consulted at all previously. Then the emperor appoints 

iCf. Partonopeus de Blots , vv. 6465-73; L'Escoufle, vv. 2255-90; Messire Gauvain, vv. 
4325-36 and 5868-79. 

2Cf. E. Laboulatte, op. cit., pp. 257, 258. 

3 Cf. Mtraugis de Portlesguez , vv. 3833-39, and, as an interesting specimen from epic 
poetry, vide Raoul de Cambrai^ vv. 5823-25, and vv. 6832-37. 

4Cf L'Escoufle , vv. 1673-89. 


505 


10 


F. L. Critchlow 


the day for the wedding and orders his counts and princes to 
attend. Examples similar to this recur throughout the Romans 
cTAventure and need not be detailed. 1 One romance 2 shows how 
a king is besought by a royal parent to restore to him his 
daughter, who has run away to seek for her lover. The king 
addressed answers the father that the young woman in question 
is not within his power to restore, but had been placed under the 
control of the knight about to marry her. 3 

The subject of a king’s or a nobleman’s marriage found fre¬ 
quently a place in the consultations of a court council. Apparently 
the decision of such a body carried with it great weight as to the 
choice or rejection of a woman; for upon it depended the welfare 
of an entire country, or of whole fiefs within a country. It occurs 
in the Romans cTAventure that a king, in addressing his council 
of barons with regard to the marriage he anticipates, speaks to 
them as his “lords and masters” who hold it in their power to 
confer or to keep back the favor he asks of them. 4 To such a 
group of counsellors fell the duty of attending to any emergen¬ 
cies arising from accidental death of a king, as in the example of 
one poem which shows how a ruler was slain suddenly in a forest. 
The queen calls at once her barons together, proposing to them 
that they resume their lands from her. But the feudatories con¬ 
cur with the s6n£schal of the late king, and aim to force her to 
marry again. The queen, however, in order to defeat their plan 
by remaining a widow, so the episode concludes, had to flee from 
her barons and keep out of their way. 5 

Already reference has been made to the circumscribed control 
exercised by a mother in marriage affairs. 6 Occasionally she 
manifested a decided aversion to a suit proposed either by her 
husband for their daughter, or suggested by the daughter herself. 7 
Her opposition was futile. A rather extreme instance of the 
morose anger of a mother against her son is furnished by one 

i Cf. Escanor, vv. 9280-310. 2 Cf. Floriant et Florete, vv. 5510-18. 

3Cf. ibid., v. 5512. The word used for control is baillie; for its significance in this con¬ 
nection cf. Gaufrey, vv. 7370-73. 

4 Cf. Guillaume de Dole, vv. 5125-30. Vide also L'Escoufle, vv. 2131 ff., where a king 
outplays his barons by securing their consent to a match before they are fully aware. 

5 Cf. Floriant et Florete, 440-50. 6 Cf. supra, p. 6, n. 2. 

7 Cf. Ipombdon, vv. 907-15, and L'Atre p&rilleux, vv. 3755-82; Sone de Nausay, vv. 7867-47. 

506 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 11 

poem , 1 which relates how, on the very day of his marriage, she 
forsook him and went to live in a distant town, because she could 
not be reconciled to countenancing her son’s marriage with one 
whom she considered to be a woman who had strayed by chance 
to the shores of her son’s kingdom . 2 An example of resented 
guardianship is that where a noblewoman, a widow, is forced by 
her son, who assumes his father’s rights over her, to marry, 
whether or no, a man of his own choosing . 3 

Less often, as compared with the Chansons de Geste , do 
ruptures of open disagreement occur in the Romans d'Aventure 
between a seigneur and his vassal about the disposal of a daughter 
in marriage. The time is already far past to admit of scenes such 
as are found in the poems of the epic age . 4 On the contrary, in 
the Romans d’ Aventure, a king may be observed seeking per¬ 
mission to marry his subject’s daughter or sister, or else it is the 
scene of a ruler unwilling to break his promise, made to a vassal, 
of a woman’s hand in marriage . 5 The manners of the epic age 
are stamped by truculence; the age of the romances, as has been 
hinted at above, did not wholly rid itself of brusqueness, though 
the severity of its manners was tempered greatly through the 
growing influence of the church and its adoration of the Mother 
of Christ. Woman’s domestic and political status owed the 
amelioration it received in the thirteenth and fourteenth centu¬ 
ries to this influence . 6 

BETROTHAL. 

The relative importance in the Middle Ages of the function of 
the sponsalia and that of the matrimonium has been noticed in 
the introduction to this study . 7 The narrations in the Romans 
d’ Aventure dealing with engagements state, usually, that an 
agreement to marry occurs between a man and a woman, either 
directly in person, or, in case they are absent from each other, 

i Cf. La Manikine , vv. 2069-94. 2 Cf. ibid., vv. 2055-62. 

3 Cf . CUomadbs, v. 17925, the expression: “Ou vousist ele ou non.” 

4 Cf. Garin le Loherain, vv. 2089-2130. 5 Cf. Guillaume de Dole , vv. 3041-58. 

6 For progress in ideas of refinement vide H. Michelant, Guillaume de Palerne , 
S.A.T.F. (1876), Vol. V, p. ii; E. DuMeril, Floire et Blanceflor (Paris, 1856), p. clvi; and 
C. Hippeau, Amadas et Ydoine (Paris, 1863), pp. iv-vi. 

1 Cf. supra , p. 3, n. 4. 


507 


12 


F. L. Critchlow 




the agreement to marry occurs by proxy. 1 The proposal of mar¬ 
riage is generally addressed by the man to the woman in exalted 
language. 2 If, as sometimes it happens, a woman takes occasion 
to propose marriage to the man, she is generally represented as 
either struggling against her impulses, or, if not that, is described 
as being refused outright, by the person addressed, for her abrupt¬ 
ness. 3 

After the man has offered himself to the woman in marriage 
and has added, besides, promises of protection to her person and 
lands, or has given his word to increase her wealth, 4 then the 
woman, as a rule, acquiesces and their engagement is consum¬ 
mated. At the conclusion of a proposal from a woman a knight 
naturally rejects her hand, or else, if unwilling to offend her, 
expresses his thanks for her words and manages to evade her 
afterwards. 5 The scenes where a betrothal occurs vary with the 
narratives of each poet; it may be an orchard or a bedroom or the 
banquet hall of a castle where the lovers meet to plight their 
troth. The language of the wooer is as courteous and winning as 
he can command. 0 After swearing by druerie 1 and offering him¬ 
self with all that he has in return for the woman’s love, the man 
extends to her his hand, 8 or else gives her a kiss, 9 and, at times, 
the lovers exchange rings. 10 

Of the romances which portray a woman making an offer of 
love to a man, the first, in order of time, is of the twelfth century, 

1 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 2565 ft'., and Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10399-440. 

2 For examples of elegance in diction vide Claris et Laris, vv. 7919-64, and Richars h 
Biaus, vv. 4975-5040. 

3 Cf. Fergus , vv. 2583-619, where the regret of the knight is referred to a regret at having 
rebuffed the woman for her advances, because his conduct in so doing was contrary to his 
vow of chivalry. 

4 Cf., e. g., Guillaume d'Angleterre, vv. 1101-10 and 1116-18. ' 

&Cf. the following romances for examples of a man proposing marriage to a woman: 
Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10169-74, Escanor , vv. 9964-75, and vv. 10249-50; Miraugis de 
Portlesguez, vv. 450-53; L'Atre p6rilleux, vv. 3755-64; Chevaliers as deus espies, vv. 2872, 2873; 
Durmars li Galois, vv. 319-28; L'Escoufle, vv. 4498-501. These romances show the woman 
proposing to the man: Richars li Biaus, vv. 1693-701; Blancandin, vv. 3452-62; Fergus, 
vv. 1927-38; Sone de Nausay, vv. 697-708. 

6 The form of the verb is always second person plural of address, either from the man 
or the woman. Cf. L'Escoufle, vv. 2360-69. 

7 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10169-74; L'Atre p6rilleux, vv. 3755-64. 

8 Cf. Joufrois de Poitiers, vv. 2097-105. 9 Cf. Galerent, vv. 2258-60. 

10 Cf. Durmars li Galois, vv. 319-28. 


508 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 18 

about the middle . 1 The poet shows her in an endeavor to make 
a proposal which, however, she foregoes owing to scruples of eti¬ 
quette. From a poem of the thirteenth century, or more than 
one hundred years later than the example above referred to, a 
scene is given where the heroine calls upon God to help her 
declare her love to the hero. She does not make a proposal, in 
fact, but denounces the idea of such a thing finally . 2 In spite of 
these examples of modesty singled out from the beginning and 
middle of the Romans d’ Aventure period, there are two separate 
instances of a woman proposing to a man, without hesitation, in 
the last poem of this class, which falls in the fourteenth century . 3 
There are, even in the thirteenth-century poems, instances of 
women proposing marriage to the man of their choice, although 
this cannot serve to prove what was the condition of etiquette in 
real life . 4 For simplicity of manners in the Middle Ages a clear 
example is given in a poem near the beginning of the thirteenth 
century: a young woman yields to the confession of her heart to 
the hero of the story, whom she awakes, in the dead of night, 
from sleep, she being powerless to conceal longer the passion 
which was consuming her, and, turning from her own bedroom 
into his, reveals her love. This phase, however, is wide of the 
purpose here and has to do with manners rather than the ceremo¬ 
nial form of engagement . 5 

Mention is frequently made in the romances of a church cele¬ 
brant formally solemnizing betrothals. The Pope is shown, by 
one poet, presiding at a betrothal . 6 Archbishops , 7 bishops , 8 and 
chaplains 9 also superintend this function. In a castle where 

1 Cf. Ille et Galeron in W. Foerster’s Romanische Bibliothek (Halle, 1891), Vol. VII, p. 2. 

2 Cf. Floriant et Florete , vv. 3930-33: 

Onques n’o'i dire en ma vie 
Que dame priast chevalier; 

Et se je faz cestui prior, 

Bien m’en porra tenir por foie. 

3 Cf. Sone de Nausay , vv. 15091-105 and 17342-58. 

*Cf. W. SOderhjelm, in Romania , Vol. XV, pp. 581, 582 (1886). 

5 Cf. Fergus , vv. 1927-38; vide also Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 1122-68, where the poet 
lessens the harshness of effect by presenting a scene of proposal from a woman in the form 
of a dream. 

6 Cf. Ille et Galeron , vv. 3567-89. 7 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois , v. 10460. 

8 Cf. Comte d'Artois, p. 11,1.16; Galerent, vv. 6458-61. 9 Cf. La ManSkine, v. 2031. 

509 


14 


F. L. Critchlow 


engagements usually took place, were to be found chaplains for 
this purpose and, if necessary, to attend to the celebration of mar¬ 
riage as well . 1 Betrothal ceremonies before a priest do not occur 
in a church , 2 but are mentioned in connection with a chapel . 3 
Only the important betrothals of people of station seemed to 
require the presence of a priest or chaplain connected with a castle. 
There was no law which demanded a priest to preside at betroth¬ 
als. All that was necessary to validity of promise to marry was, 
from of old, that the bride should be present with her relatives at 
the ceremony of betrothal; further, the consent of both man and 
woman was obligatory and the contract, if broken, subjected either 
to a fine of compensation . 4 For the reason that this agreement 
was a secular one, it needed not to be, therefore, consummated in 
a church. 

Instances of betrothals conducted without the intervention of 
a priest but, in lieu of him, through the agency of one outside the 
church, give evidence of the time when a father’s authority, or 
that of a king, sufficed in the stead of the priestly function, when 
as yet only the patriarchal function existed . 5 These secular 
betrothals reveal great clearness in the form of wording employed 
by the poets 6 and two narratives, in particular, appear to be 
modeled after ritual . 7 The romances most often exhibit a 
father in charge of his daughter’s betrothal, when no priest is 

1 Cf. E.-E. Viollet-le-Duc, Dictionnaire raisonnA de Varchitecture francaise (Paris, 
1869), Vol. Ill, p. 103. 

2 That is to say in a mostier, or glise. 3 Cf. Raoul de Cambrai , vv. 3683, 3684. 

4 Cf. L. J. Koenigswarter, Histoire del'organisation de lafamille (Paris, 1851),pp. 122, 
123, where is cited the decree ( titl . lxx) of the Salic Laws. Cf., also, Hugues Capet , vv. 4186 S. 

^ Cf. E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage (London, 1901), 3d ed., pp. 426, 
427. Cf. also the Aulularia , of Plautus, II, 2 (Goetz et SchoeL 1 , Lips., 1898), pp. 126,127. 

6 Cf. the ceremony presided over by King Arthur’s wife in Clig&s, vv. 2340-47: 

La rexne andeus les anbrace 
Et fet a l’un de l’autre don. 

An riant dit: Je t’abandon, 

Alixandre, le cors t’amie. 

Bien sai qu’au cuer ne fauz tu mie. 

Qui qu’an face chiere ne groing, 

L’un de vos deus a 1’ autre doing. 

Tien tu le tuen et tu la toe. 

7 Cf. Le Chevalier au Cygne, vv. 128-32, and also Gay don, vv. 10, 847-57, which, though a 
Chanson de Geste, is a rare example of the point in question. Cf. also Raoul de Cambrai 
vv. 5833-38. 


510 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 15 


at hand . 1 In a Franco-Proven§al story of the thirteenth cen¬ 
tury 2 is given a betrothal scene at early morning: the suitor 
repairs with the young woman’s father to her chamber, and 
there he is presented to her; the bride is also presented to the 
young man and her consent to marriage is secured. The for¬ 
mal introduction of the man to the woman and the woman to 
the man, and the rest of the ceremony, conclude with the shaking 
of hands of the pair and a word of farewell from the woman to 
her departing lover . 3 

Illustrations from manuscripts depicting a betrothal scene 
show the presiding figure with the man on his right hand and 
the woman on his left . 4 The young man’s left hand is held in 
the right hand of the king who is superintending the ceremony, 
while the young woman’s right hand, covered with a long mitt, is 
enclosed in the king’s left hand. The head of the king turns, as 
if in speaking posture, toward the young man who, with raised 
right hand, seems to be pledging himself at the moment . 5 Taken 
collectively, these secular betrothals present no wider variations 
in the Romans d'Aventure than have been noticed here above, 
nor do they differ in form from the ceremony in charge of a cele¬ 
brant of the church. 

BETROTHAL BEFORE A COURT OF BARONS. 

The part exercised by a king’s barons or court council in the 
matter of the betrothal of royal couples falls more properly, for 
treatment, under the subject of tutelage as it offers few 
important data for this division of the subject. However, there 
are several examples of sufficient value to include under a sepa¬ 
rate rubric . 6 The function of the barons at a betrothal appears 

lCf. CUomades, vv. 17645-51, Flamenca, vv. 264-89; Olivier de Castille, p. 54; Le Comte 
d'Artois, p. 41; Chevaliers as deus espies, vv. 4544-55; Joufrois de Poitiers, vv. 3501-12. 

2 Cf. Flamenca, vv. 2644 ff. 

3Cf. ibid., v. 289, “Soan dis: ‘A Dieu vos coman. 

4 Cf., for reproductions of the MS illustrations, Le Comte d'Artois, p. 41, and Olivier de 
Castille, p. 54. 

5Cf. P. Bergmans, Li livre d'hystoyre de Olivier de Castille et de Artus d'Algarve, 
(Gand, 1897), pp. 7, 8: “ Au point de vue des moeurs, sujets tels que la sc&ne des fiangailles et 
celle du mariage off rent un r6el int§r@t documentaire.” 

6 Cf. L ’Escoufle, vv. 2314-38; Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 8314-20; Sone de Nausay, p. 434. 

511 


16 


F. L. Critchlow 


to be ornamental, and their presence merely for sake of added 
dignity , 1 but in a romance of the beginning of the thirteenth 
century are set forth the details of transactions which occur 
between a ruler and his nobles whose permission to give his 
daughter in marriage was secured by means of a stratagem on 
his part . 2 In this story, the disposal of the woman’s hand lay 
entirely with the council of the king, who himself could not pro¬ 
ceed except upon their initiative. The ceremony of this betrothal 
is as follows: the emperor presides as celebrant and the pair are 
represented as standing before him in costly garments ; the youth 
takes the hand of the girl, and the pledging follows before the 
holy relics and in presence of fifty barons . 1 Either secular or 
church celebrants are represented as presiding .over these func¬ 
tions at which barons are said to attend. Only in the case of 
royal sponscilia ceremonies are barons mentioned as present at 
the solemnization of betrothals. 

BETROTHAL EFFECTED INDIRECTLY. 

Betrothal by proxy occurred frequently during the Middle 
Ages, and was occasioned by the exigencies incident to the. life 
of those times. There exist accounts of historical examples of 
this form of betrothal which serve as reference and as a basis of 
comparison for the fictitious descriptions found in the Romans 
d’ Aventure? One of these latter merits analysis here on account 
of the clearness of its outline of the ceremony in question . 5 At 

i Cf. the stock expressions employed by the poets: “ Voiant la cort et le barnage,” and 
“Tout par devant la baronnie,” as simply descriptive. 

2 Cf. L'Escoufle , v. 2187, where there is question of a don to be made by the king’s 
barons. 

3This couple was not of an age suitable for marriage, but td obviate this hindrance the 
emperor had, in their case, an earnest of real marriage celebrated, called sponsalia per verba 
de futuro. Cf. Beauchet, op. cit., p. 39, and A. Schultz, Das hOfische Leben zur Zeit der 
Minnesinger (Leipzig, 1889), Vol. I, p. 630. For an example of betrothal solemnization before 
a king and barons cf. Raoul de Cambrai , vv. 5838-10: 

Sor une table font les sains aporter, 

Ilueques font les sairemens jurer, 

Berniers del prendre et Guerris del donner. 

The sacredness of this oath upon sains is shown clearly, though in another connection than 
betrothal, in Durmars li Galois , vv. 11205-17. 

4 Cf. A. Schultz, op. cit., pp. 618-21, for various examples of betrothal by proxy in the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 

f> Cf. Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 2563-86. 


512 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 


17 


an Easter festival, thirty white-haired barons appear, represent¬ 
ing the emperor of Greece, coming to seek, in his name, the hand 
of Melior, the Roman emperor’s daughter, for Partenidon, the 
Greek emperor’s son. The embassy is clad in fine raiment and 
adorned with gold and jewels. After an exchange of salutations 
between the emperor and the ambassadors, a spokesman slips for¬ 
ward and points out to him the mission of the Greeks. The 
woman, Melior, is asked in marriage in return for an ample 
supply of material wealth 1 to be given the daughter in case her 
father consents, which he is cautioned by the embassy to do. 2 
The emperor next takes counsel with his barons concerning the 
offer and the agreement of marriage follows. 3 Both sides—the 
emperor and ambassadors—pledge to have the fulfilment of their 
promise take effect on St. John’s day. 4 Throughout the city are 
he&rd shouts and tumults of rejoicing because the emperor’s 
daughter has been betrothed. 5 However, the real lover of Melior 
receives the same news with bewildered chagrin, and takes to 
his bed on account of the fact that his sweetheart had been 
affianced to another man. 6 The Greek embassy remained at 
court with the Roman emperor, and then departed after three 
days. 

The simple delivery of a message of love and, with it, a ring 
sent to a young woman by a knight as a token of his wish to 
marry her is instanced in a poem of the seventh decade of the 
thirteenth century. 7 This shows a servant ordered by his master 
to appear with a message of proposal and a ring before a woman 
whom the knight had never seen; she, upon hearing the words of 
the messenger, evinced great pleasure and gave him an answer to 

1 Cf. ibid., vv. 2627-30. 

2 Cf. ibid., vv. 2637, 2638: 

• Garde n’i ait refusement, 

Ci voi tes princes et ta gent. 

3 Cf. ibid., v. 2640: “ Si tu cest plait otroieras.” 

4 Cf. ibid., v. 2646: the length of time between betrothal and marriage in this case was 
nearly two months. For the regulation as to length of time required to elapse between the 
pledge of betrothal and marriage vide A.-A. Beugnot, Assises de Jerusalem (Paris, 1843), 
Vol. II, p. 112, and E. MaktEne, Be antiquis ecclesiae ritibus (Antwerp, 1763-64), Vol. IV, 
p. 442. Cf. also Flore et Jehanne, pp. 96, 97. 

5 Cf. ibid., v. 2652: “ Que dounee ert lor damoisele.” 

e Cf. ibid., v. 2660: “ Que afiee estoit sa drue.” 

i Cf. Floriant et Florete, vv. 4205-60. 


513 


18 


F. L. Critchlow 


take back, favorable to the knight’s suit . 1 Contrary to this atti¬ 
tude of a woman accepting a lover whose suit was urged indi¬ 
rectly, there is an example of a woman upbraiding a king through 
his messenger for the reason that the suitor did not appear in 
person and was therefore committing a serious breach of etiquette. 
This being the only case of protest on this ground in the Romans 
d?Aventure , there is nothing to affirm concerning the standard 
of politeness in such a matter. However, in vindication of the 
woman’s position, it is to be noticed that the sequel to the episode 
portrays the king departing to her castle in order to comply with 
her wishes . 2 


WEDDING. 

The Romans d’Aventure refer to the wedding ceremony 
always as espousailles . 3 This function is represented, in the 
poems in question, as occurring usually in a church, and always 
superintended by celebrants whose authority was that of the 
sacred priesthood of the Roman Church . 4 Sometimes a wedding 
ceremony is described as taking place in a castle. Of the 

1 Cf. Floriant et Florete, vv. 4251-60: 

Car mesire Gauvains m’envoie 
A vous et dist que soiez sole, 

Quar il est vostre chevaliers 
De cuer et de cors tous entiers, 

Si vous envoie .j. anelet, 

Ou tout a vo vouloir se met. 

Blanchandine en riant respont: 

“ Par Dieu, l’autime roi del mont, 

Je ne le quier ja refusser 

Bel m’est quant il me daigne amer.” 

2 Cf. Roi Flore et la belle Jehanne , pp. 152,153. For other examples of the kind treated 
in this subdivision above cf. CligSs, vv. 2859-70, and Comte d 1 Artois, pp. 69 and 84. 

3 According to the meaning of the Latin etymon of this word espousailles , it should 
connote only betrothal. But, as a representative of the Latin sponmlia, the word fianQailles 
is used in French, from fidantialia ( vide KOrting, Etym. WOrterbuch, s. v.). And the 
French language, of the Romance idioms alone, has made this change, which affects also 
the forms Spoux and Spouse. These latter, in French, have the meaning of man and wife, 
whereas in other Romance languages they indicate only persons betrothed. Occasionally 
a variant form occurs, like espousement; cf. Guillaume de Dole, v. 5367, and AuberSe, v. 50; 
cf. Ebeling’s comment on espousement in his edition of this tableau, p. 45 (Halle, 1895). Cf. 
also Guillaume de Palerne , v. 8320, and Roi Flore et la belle Jehanne , pp. 93 and 96, where 
the words mariage and mariSe occur respectively in the sense of “betrothal” and “be¬ 
trothed.” Likewise in Fergus , v. 6902, mariage occurs in the same sense. 

i Just as in the case of betrothals already cited (p. 4, n. 1, and p. 13, n. 9), the celebrants 
at weddings described in the Romans d'Aventure represent high and low position in order 
of ecclesiastical rank; cf. Ille et Galeron , v. 6551, where the Pope presides at a ceremony, 
and in Comte de Poitiers, v. 978, an abbot. Cf. also Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 3450-55. 

514 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 19 

twenty-four examples of wedding description here chosen from 
the Homans (VAventure fourteen ceremonies are performed in a 
church, away from a castle . 1 Seven marriage scenes are repre¬ 
sented as happening in castles 2 and three are not designated as 
to where the ceremony is performed . 3 

The expressions, used by the poets, in stating how a marriage 
was celebrated vary somewhat: four cases declare the man to 
have married the woman directly , 4 while nine instances show that 
the celebrants married the bride to the groom, or married them 
to each other mutually . 5 Two examples narrate the marriage 
ceremony as being conducted by the priest, who questions the 
parties in turn. In each case the groom is the one first addressed, 
and, afterward, the bride . 6 The remainder of the examples do 
not state clearly enough the details of the wedding ceremony to 
admit of a fixed classification . 7 

As a rule the poets confine the wedding ceremony in their 
works to the marriage of one pair, although, occasionally, as many 
as three couples are joined at one nuptial celebration and, as 
sometimes happens, two pairs are united . 8 In whatever manner a 
poet depicts a nuptial service he shows plainly that the woman is 
the subsidiary party to the sacred contract before the priest. 
Two features of two separate romances may have their place here: 


1 Cf. tirades , vv. 2812, 2813; Ille et Galeron, vv. 6547-51; Ipom&don, vv. 87-95; Guillaume 
de Palerne , vv. 8899-8809; Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10711, 10712; Galerent , vv. 7699-7701; 
Fergus, vv. 6937-40; Guillaume de Dole , vv. 5348, 5349; L'Escoufle , vv. 8288, 8299; Flamenca, 
v. 292; Durmars li Galois , vv. 14776,14777; Claris et Laris , vv. 29568, 29569; Escanor , vv. 23022, 
23023: Floriant et Florete , vv. 6071-73. 

2 Ille et Galeron , vv. 1516-29; Comte de Poitiers , vv. 971-81; Guillaume d'Angleterre, 
Vv. 1305-10; Roman de la Violete, vv. 6573-82; La Man&kine , vv. 2029-40; Jehan et Blonde, 
vv. 4738-55; Sone de Nausay , vv. 17019-49. 

3 Richars li Biaus, vv. 4105-25; Comtesse de Ponthieu, pp. 2, 3: Olivier de Castille , p. 17. 

4 tirades , vv. 2812, 2813; Fergus , vv. 6918, 6919; Roman de la Violete , vv. 6573, 6574; Sone 
de Nausay , vv. 17031, 17032. 

5 me et Galeron , vv. 1525, 6551; Guillaume d'Angleterre, vv. 1306, 1307; Guillaume de 
Palerne , vv. 8904, 8905; Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10733-35; Durmars li Galois, vv. 14988,14989; 
Claris et Laris, vv. 29568, 29569; Escanor, vv. 23027, 23028; La Man6kine, vv. 2037, 2038. 

G Cf. Comte de Poitiers, vv. 978-81; Jehan et Blonde, vv. 4740-45. 

7 Cf. Galerent, vv. 7699-724; Guillaume de Dole, vv. 5367-71; L'EscouJle, vv. 8283-89; 
Flamenca, vv. 290-92; Floriant et Florete, vv. 6071-6102; Richars li Biaus, vv. 4120-25; 
Comtesse de Ponthieu, pp. 2, 3; Comte d'Artois, p. 22; Olivier de Castille, p. 17. 

8 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 8899-8909; Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10711-35; and 
Escanor , vv. 23021-33; Floriant et Florete, vv. 6071-108. 

515 


20 


F. L. Critchlow 


the bathing of the bride-elect two whole days before her marriage, as 
set forth in an early romance, and the reference in another poem 
to the formality of a kiss at the close of the wedding service . 1 

In order to add a more constructive phase to the analysis now 
in hand, it will be necessary to point out the connected details of 
one entire wedding service, such as are given, for instance, in the 
romance of Sone de Nausay 2 The immediate context in this 
lengthy poem does not show at what time the marriage of Sone 
with Odee takes place. The ceremony occurs in the castle at 
Galoche, and all but the great nobles and ladies ( la grant baronnie) 
are excluded. The clerks do the chanting of the service; an 
archbishop, three bishops, and an abbot celebrate the mass. 
Sone removes his mantle of scarlet and ermine , 3 and robes him¬ 
self in a white cloak [une blanque). The pair are led up to the 
altar 4 and all present bend backward ( souvins ). After this a 
care cloth of samit is spread over Sone and Odee . 5 White cloth- 
pieces ( touailles ) are then cast over the bridal pair , 0 and in this 
white apparel they hear the archbishop intone the nuptial mass. 
At the close of this part of the service the pair, standing up, 
receive the sacrament. At the order of the priest, the bride and 
groom retire from the altar and are then anointed. All present 
wear white. Finally, an abbot chants a mass and the offering is 
made, participated in first by the king, and later by the others. 

Unfortunately none of the poets of the Romans d’Aventure 
carries the element of realism, for which this general class of litera¬ 
ture has been distinctive in every age, so far as to give, word for 
word, each phase of the wedding solemnization in the church . 7 

1 Cf. firacles, v. 2576, and Flamenca , v. 297; this last reference possibly has to do with 
the pax or osculatory as found in Mart£ne, op. cit., p. 616. By way of comparison cf. the 
mediaeval German poem Helmbrecht, vv. 1503-34, and K. Wackernagel, VerlObnis und Trau- 
ung in Haupt’s Zeitschrift filr deutsches Alterthum (Leipzig, 1842), Vol. II, p. 548 if. 

2 Cf. this poem, vv. 17017-54. The night before the wedding day Sone spends in fasting 
and prayer; cf. infra , p. 33, n. 4. 

3 Cf. vv. 16746, 16747. 

4 Cf. Vioelet-ee-Duc, Diet. rais. de VArch.., Vol. II, p. 18 (Paris, 1868-74). 

6 Cf. A. Schultz, Das hdfische Leben , Vol, I, p. 344. 

c Cf. the Roman de Ron et des Dues de Normandie , (ed.) F. Pluquet (Rouen, 1827) Vol 
I, p. 276. 

7 The descriptive tendency has been characteristic of all romantic literature of which 
the Romans d'Aventure represent the middle stage, placed as they are between the post, 
classic sea-romances like Theagenes and Chariclea of Heliodorus (written, according to 
Jebb, 390 A. D.), and the modern Paul et Virginie of J.-H.-Bernardin de Saint-Pierre 
(written 1787). 


516 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 21 


However, the nucleus of the church ritual is exhibited in three 
romances 1 where the priest proposes the bride to the groom for 
acceptance and vice versa* Usually at the same time as the 
question of assent to marry is being asked by the priest, he 
takes the right hand of the groom and that of the bride in 
such a manner that the pair hold each other’s right hand, and the 
celebrant then places his own hands over those he has brought 
together into a clasped position . 3 Then is pronounced the nup¬ 
tial blessing. With this the bride and groom pass out of the 
church. The groom is represented as walking on the right side 
of the bride from the church, in order to have his right arm 
free for defense, in keeping with ancient custom . 4 A far better 
clue to a ritual than is given in any one of the Romans d'Aven- 
ture and a form of service which exhibits the two cardinal con¬ 
ditions requisite for an honorable marriage, namely: affinity and 
consent , is to be found in a prose romance here cited below . 5 
Still, as has been already pointed out, enough details of the wed¬ 
ding ceremony are to be gathered from the Romans cTAventure 

1 Cf. Comte de Poitiers, vv. 971-81; Guillaume de Dole , vv. 5370, 5371; Jehan et Blonde , 
vv. 4738-42. 

2 For the origin of this ritual cf. Bruns, fontes, p. 86 (ed. Mommsen et Gradenwitz, 
Lips., 1893, 5th ed.): “ Coemptio vero certis sollemnitatibus peragebatur et sese in 
coemendo unicem interrogabant, vir, ita, an sibi mulier materfamilias essevellet? Ilia 
respondebat velle. Item mulier interrogabat; an vir sibi paterfamilias esse vellet ? Ille 
respondebat velle.” This formula, cited from Boethius, Schol. Virgiliana ad Aen., 4, 214, 
is the first part of the ceremony, the second part of which had to do with an appearance of 
purchase ( coemptio ) of the bride by the groom, who struck a pair of scales with a coin, 
“matrimonium per aes et libram.” This fictitious sale of Roman usage is the counterpart 
of the German custom of “matrimonium per solidum et denarium” described by Tacitus, 
Germania, 18 (ed. H. Furneaux, Oxford, 1894), but confounded by him with the Roman. 

3 Cf. Comte de Poitiers , vv. 978, 979; La Man&kine , vv. 2036, 2037. 

iCf. Comte d'Artois, p. 22; also L. Gautier, La Chevalerie , p. 368. 

5 Cf. R. De Maulde de la Clavi^re, Les femmes de la Renaissance (Paris, 1898), note 
to p. 34: The priest, in a romance by G. Caviceo (written in 1508) addresses a man and 
woman before him as follows: 

P6r§grin et vous G6n6ve, estes vous francs et Iib6r6s de toute religion secrette ou mani¬ 
festo ? 

P6r&grin et G6n&ve: Nous sommes Iib6r6s sans en rien estre obligez. 

Ministre: Estes-vous point en affinity conjoinctz? 

P6r6grin et G6n&ve: Nulle fut l’affinit6 et petite l’amytiS. 

Ministre: Avez-vous point promis h autre homme ne femme par marriage ne espou- 
sailles ? 

PMgrin et Gtnbve: Non, jamais. 

Ministre: De vostre commun consentement estes-vous disposez h c616brer le present 
sainct sacrement de manage? 

P6r6grin et G6nbve: De cueur et de foy faire le voulons. 

Ministre: Toy, dame, le doy, et P6r6grin, l’annel imposeras. 

517 


22 


F. L. Critchlow 


to form an approximate description of the entire church service 
There are a number of expressions in the Romans d’Aventure 
which indicate their origin from church ritual by their form, 
and, according to the marriage formulae of the church, handed 
down, are the identical, albeit fragmentary, wording of that 
ritual . 1 

The bridal procession to the church is the occasion which the 
poet takes of extolling the beauties of the bride’s form and dress; 
the groom, in these narrations, is almost lost from sight at this 
juncture . 2 The description of ceremonies in the front of the 
church is next attended to . 3 Then follows the account of the 
singing and music as the wedding service commences . 4 Here¬ 
upon, the remainder of the celebration at the church is divided 
into two parts: the marriage and the mass , 5 between which a short 
interval supervenes for change of priests’ vestments . 6 Then, for 
the most part, at the close of the service, the mass is sung.' 

It remains now to add wherein the poems under investigation 
do not show parallelism w T ith the church formulae of wedding con¬ 
secration. In all the examples just considered, which represent a 
period of nearly two hundred years, there is no reference to any 

1 Cf., Comte de Poitiers, the words: “Sanctus,” v. 972, and “Aleluia,” v. 974; Guillaume 
d' Angleterre, the expression in v. 1307: to receive a woman “ de main d’un abe;” also Ora¬ 
cles, v. 5075: the expression “par main de prestre;” Guillaume de Palerne, vv, 8905-6: The 
patriarch Alexis “les assamble a manage Par lecoustumeet par l’usage Qu’il menoient 
en la contr6e; ” Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10729,10730: “ Li arcevesque sont avant Lor croces 
en lor mains tenant; ” Fergus , v. 6939 (var.): “ Luite §st euvangile et epistle; ” Guillaume de 
Dole, vs. 5370, 5371: “En l’onor dou saint Esperit Et chanta de la Trinity Escanor , vv. 
23021-26: here is a reference to the institution of banns; cf. ibid.: “par sairement et par 
paroles,'’ v. 23033; Floriant et Florete, vv. 6083-86: “Li arcevesque et la clargie Ont tantost 
messe commencie Que l’en dist du Saint-Esprite. Et quant l’Evangile fudite;” Jehanet 
Blonde, vv. 4741, 4742: the priest “ puis demanda chascun par soi S’il voellent estre h loy.” 

2 Cf. tirades , vv. 2570-76; Partonopeus de Blois , vv. 10711-30; Galerent, vv. 7699-7703; Dur- 
mars li Galois, vv. 14976-79. 

» 

3 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 8894-99; Floriant et Florete, vv. 6074-77; Amadas et 
Ydoine, vv. 2343-94; Cl£omadbs, vv. 17215-20. Cf. MartEne, op. cit., Yol. II, pp. 616, 617, 
where are given directions to the officiating priest before the nuptial blessing. 

4 Cf. Comte de Poitiers, vv. 972, 973; Guillaume de Dole, vv. 5370, 5371; Fergus, vv. 6021-23; 
cf. Du Cange, Gloss, med. et inf. Lat., Yol. I, p. 577, col. 2. 

f> Usually the nuptial mass is made to occur after the wedding, as it should, but the 
romances of Floriant et Florete, vv. 6083-85, and Sone de Nausay, vv. 17028,17029 reverse this 
order. 

® Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, v. 10728; Guillaume de Dole, vv. -5290-93; Sone de Nausay, 
vv. 17027, 17028. 

7 Cf. La ManFkine, v. 2040; Sone de Nausay, v. 17029; sometimes the mass is designated 
as being said, only; cf. Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 8921, 8922. 

518 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 23 

ring ceremony. While the betrothal formalities required a ring 
for the woman to wear and the Romans d’Aventure are repre¬ 
sented as usually providing her with this pledge of lovers , 1 still 
no mention is made of a ring in the various narrations of a mar¬ 
riage ceremony . 2 In the second place the romances take no 
account of any wedding ceremony at the church portal, where, 
according to the St. Gatien ritual here cited, the entire wedding 
service was conducted, up to the point where the priest placed 
the ring upon the bride’s hand . 3 

Thirdly, the wedding garments of noble persons in the middle 
ages were white, but none of the romances, save one, gives any 
record of this fact . 4 

The groom is generally represented, in all of these poems, as 
having received knighthood before marriage, although to be a 
knight was not a condition of marriage. This is shown in the 
romance of Sone de Nausay, where one of the grooms, Henris, is 
not dubbed until after his marriage. The same is true of Jehan 
in Jehan et Blonde. In view of the fact that a youth could 
become knighted at fifteen years of age, it is plain that the age 
at marriage of both a bride and her groom was much earlier than 
in modern times. The romances state the age before a marriage 
as seventeen years for the groom and fifteen years for the bride, 
and in general, these numbers are a true record. Chretien de 
Troyes represents Clig&s as in the flower of his age at fifteen 
years. The church required the bride at marriage to be twelve 
years old, and the groom to be in his sixteenth year . 5 

THE RING IN BETROTHAL. 

Just as the function of betrothal, in the Middle Ages, implied 
far more as an agreement, in the nature of a contract, not to be 
revoked without serious consequences, so also the betrothal ring, 

1 Cf. Conte de la Violete, vv. 6672-80. 

2 Cf. Dr. F. Hofmann, op. cit ., p. 839, and p. 24, n. 2, infra. 

3 Cf. Marine, op. cit ., p. 616; also the expression in the Concil. Trevir., c. 5: “matri- 
monium cum honore et reverentia et in facie ecclesiae celebratum.” 

4 Cf. Sone de Nausay , vv. 17031, 17047, 17048; also, Joufrois de Poitiers , vv. 1508 and 1522, 
where reference is made to the priest’s vestments. Cf. also Chevaliers as deus espies, 
vv. 10323-28, where the queen’s wedding dress is black samite worked in gold with figures of 
beasts and birds. 

5 cf. P. LabbiS et Cossart, Collectio concilioi'um (Paris, 1671), Vol. X, p. 608. 

519 


24 


F. L. Critchlow 


or what was substituted for it sometimes, was held in greater 
esteem, relatively, than at a later period . 1 None of the Romans 
cPAventure in the course of a wedding description refer to that 
part of the ceremony where the priest hands the ring to the 
groom in order that the latter may place it upon the bride’s 
finger , 2 although there are passages in these poems which indicate 
clearly enough that the wedding ring had its proper part in the 
nuptial service . 3 In the period of the Romans d’Aventure the 
betrothal ring bore with it the signification of the iron anulus 
pronubus of Roman usage during the Republic , 4 from which the 
French betrothal ring has its origin, although the symbolic 
meaning which the church had succeeded in attaching to the 
betrothal ring had, by this time, divested it of its pagan signifi¬ 
cance ; so much is this true, that the ring was ultimately confined 
to the marriage ceremony alone. 

The descriptions of rings, as found in the Romans d'Aven- 
ture , represent them usually as jeweled with precious stones , 0 the 
colors of which range from deep red, almost violet, to the light 
red of pale rubies . 6 Diamonds in rings are not often mentioned . 7 
Gold is usually the material employed. Rings are sometimes 
represented as possessing magic powers . 8 

1 For the symbols of betrothal other than the ring cf. Guillaume de Dole , vv. 4393-4402. 

2 Cf. the brief but clear account of a ring ceremony in Diu Crdne, by Heinrich von dem 
TPrlin, vv. 13855-60 (ed. Scholl), Bibl. Lilt. Ver. in Stuttgart, Vol. XXVII, p. 170, col. 2 (1852). 

3 Cf. E. Martene, De antiquis ecclesiae ritibus , Vol. II, p. 612 (Antwerp, 1763-64): “Bene- 
dictio super anulum —Creator et Conservator humani generis, Dator aeternae salutis, 
omnipotens Deus, tu permitte Spiritum sanctum Paraclitum super hunc anulum. Per.” 
Cf. infra , p. 26, n. 6. 

4 Cf. Dr. F. Hofmann, “tlber den Verlobungs- und den Trauring,” Sitzungsberichte der 
K. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien , Vol. LXV, pp. 825-64 (Wien, 1870). The ring, as is made 
clear in this monograph, was as common to ordinary business transactions in ancient times 
as it was to the sponsalia ceremonies, and was not peculiar to, nor original with, betrothals. 
On the contrary, the element of bargain or exchange, dominant in marriage transactions, both 
in the fictitious sale of the Romans and the customs of the Germanic peoples, required an 
earnest or token of pledge. This ring of iron, used at Rome (in the empire, however, a gold 
ring was used), was also adopted amongst the Germans. Cf. also Archceologia (London, 
1814), Vol. XVII, pp. 124-27. 

5 Cf. Comte de Poitiers , vv. 857, 858. 

6 Cf. the expressions: “balais rubiz” in Guillaume de Dole, v. 3342; “ jagonce ” (garnet, 
dark red) in Guillaume d'Angleterre , v. 3001, and “La piere fu toute vermeille” in Roman 
de la Violete , v. 886. The color green is also mentioned; cf. L'Escoufle,v. 3812: “Ki plus ert 
vers que fuelle d’ierre.” 

7 Cf. La Mantkine , v. 6067; also Guillauvie de Palerne, vv. 2585, where the jewels of the 
Greek embassy are said to shine like glass. Cf. also Paris et Vienne , p. 46. 

®Cf. L'Escoufle , vv. 4481 and 3813; also “La folie Tristan de Berne,” Romania , Vol. XV, 

p. 573. 


520 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 25 


The Romans cVAventure give several instances where, in lieu 
of a ring, a symbol for betrothal takes the form of a banner 
worked with gold, and is made for the woman, by her lover, in 
token of their troth . 1 Possibly this handiwork was given by the 
woman in exchange for a ring from her lover and not referred to 
by the poet. But it was common in the Middle Ages to use 
various symbols, in every-day life, on occasions that required the 
keeping of faith, even in trivial matters; so that a betrothal 
might have been consummated without any ring at all, though 
this is not very likely . 2 Another type of betrothals, in this con¬ 
nection of the ring, shows both man and woman making exchange 
of rings with each other . 3 In still another class should be 
included those instances where the woman, alone, presents a ring 
to her lover as a symbol of her constancy . 4 

Two cases have been noted in which a man offers a betrothal 
ring to his jianc&e:' A singular example of a woman resorting to 
a trick is exhibited in one poem, where it is represented that a 
rejected suitor receives, supposedly from the lady who hitherto 
had not favored his suit, a ring and other emblems of good faith 
as a mark of her change of mind toward him and as a sign that 
she was willing now for him to accept her . 8 

It is clear from the Romans cP Aventure that the betrothal 
rings were ornamented with jewels, although precious stones, in 
the Middle Ages, were regarded superstitiously . 7 Upon what 
finger the betrothal ring was worn is not told . 8 

1 Cf. Richars li Biaus, vv. 5115, 5116; and Partonopeus de Blois , vv. 8335-66 but the gon- 
fanon here referred to is presented by the hero of the poem to Melior. 

2 Cf. La Vengeance de Raguidel , vv. 1327-31. For the ring in other connections than 
betrothal vide de Joinville, Hist, de St. Louis (ed. J. N. de Wailly), pp. 61 and 86 (Paris, 
1874), where business contracts are sealed by means of this symbol. 

3 Cf. Amadas et Ydoine. vv. 5780-97. and G. Coquillart, CEuvres , Vol. II, p. 170 (Paris, 
1745); also Horn , vv. 2049-55. 

4 Cf. Claris et Laris , vv. 28998-29010; L'Escoufle , vv. 4488, 4489; also Floris et Liriope, vv. 
1139-46; and Paris et Vienne, p. 46. 

5 Cf. Conte de la Violete , vv. 884-89, where the ring is represented as having been given 
at some former time by the man to the woman. Also Guillaume de Dole , vv. 3333-43, where 
a man makes a request of a woman through her mother for her druerie; cf. also Flamenca, 
w. 10,11. 

6 Cf. Guillaume de Dole , vv. 4310-4401. 

7 Cf. supra, p. 24, n. 6, as to the kinds of precious stones used in rings. For the magic 
attributed to rings, vide Amadas et Ydoine, vv. 6430-32; also Floire et Blanceflor , vv. 1001-8. 

8 Cf. Claris et Laris, v. 29007; the words “son petit anel” refer to the ring then worn 

by the man, but represented as having been given him at some time previously by his 
betrothed. n 


26 


F. L. Critchlow 


THE RING IN WEDDING. 

According to historical tradition, the ring, symbolizing mar¬ 
riage, should be without jewels and perfectly smooth and round . 1 
As far as can be seen, the Romans (VAventure denote, by the 
same descriptive terms, that the wedding ring was as beautiful as 
the betrothal ring . 2 The same word is used for both . 3 The 
position of the ring upon the hand is usually designated by a 
word which means the little finger ; 4 there is no way of telling 
upon which of the two hands either the betrothal or the wedding 
ring rested . 5 The church required the marriage ring to be set on 
the third finger of the left hand . 6 The instances showing the 
wedding ring in the possession of the woman do not represent 
her, however, as receiving it at the marriage, service, although 
she could come to possess it only in that way. 

WEDDING PROCESSION. 

The wedding procession to and from the church is the chief 
feature of all the nuptial ceremonies next to the solemnization of 
the marriage proper. In classic Roman life the procession of 
marriage was one of the indispensable ceremonies connected with 
this rite . 7 Although the church did not prescribe, in the times 
of the romances, or ever, the procession of the bridal party, yet 
the importance and fittingness of this function both to and from 
the sanctuary is evidence that the adoption of the pagan forms of 

1 Cf. Pliny (ed. K. Mayhoff, Lips., 1897), Hist. Nat., Vol. XXXIII, cap. 1, §§6 and 12; 
L. Friedlaender, Darstellungenaus der Sittengeschichte Roms , sechste Ausg. (Leipzig, 1888, 
p. 465. 

2 The expression “gent anel” is applied to a betrothal ring in L'Escoufle, v. 4488, and to 
a wedding ring in Comte de Poitiers , v. 268. Cf. Aye d ’Avignon , vv. 2000-2, where the mar¬ 
riage ring contains three precious stones. 

3 The forms aniaus, anels , anelet, all occur in the poems, and are used interchangeably 
of both betrothal and wedding rings. Bague is a late mediaeval word, not found in the 
romances. 

4 Cf. W. Foerster, Der Karrenritter (Halle, 1899), p. 401. In a note to verse 4658 of 
Lancelot , Foerster derives mame from minimus and identifies it with manel , a little finger, 
upon which a ring was often worn. 

5 Cf. La Man&kine , v. 6311, where the heroine of the story has only a right hand upon 
which to put a ring. 

6 As late as the Council of Milan, 1576, special direction was given as to which hand 
should bear the marriage ring: “Non dextrae sed sinistrae manus sponsae digitis induatur 
annulo nuptiali.” 

7 Cf. L. Friedlander, op. cit ., Vol. I, p. 466; especially the references in the footnote to 
the works of Karlowa, Marquardt, and Rossbach, respectively. Cf. also N. D. Fustel 
de CouLi anges, La cit€ antique (Paris, 1885), 11th ed., pp. 45, 46. 

522 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 27 


ceremony in this particular was not distasteful to Christian ideas. 
The obscene elements were, in part, removed from the Roman 
customs, and the church countenanced the traditions which 
obtained in French nuptial processions, just as it had sanctioned 
the pagan rites of marriage themselves, having adopted and 
spiritualized the ceremonies of sponsalia and matrimonium . 1 

The romances always give the time of day for a marriage as 
early morning, between the hours of 6 and 9 A. M., and most often 
the day of marriage falls in the early summer. The description 
of some wedding days includes the preliminary merry-making, and 
the narrative starts with sunrise to maintain the story of the 
occurrences until the night of the wedding day is far advanced 
and the guests are fairly wearied with wine and song. 2 That a 
formal invitation was sent to the dependents of a ruler is made 
plain in one romance which represents him as summoning his 
baronage to appear after a week’s notice at the wedding of his 
chief general. 3 There is, however, no regularity expressed by 
the poets as to the invitation of guests to a wedding; there comes 
to the festivities usually a great number of nobles who take active 
part in the proceedings without, apparently, any invitation at all 
from either the bride or groom. 4 In the number of those who 
might be expected with certainty to assist at the wedding a 
noticeable lack sometimes occurs. 5 The knights visiting a castle 
whose lord was to marry did not receive their lodging within the 
walls of the castle proper, but were entertained at separate houses 
named ostels, bedecked for the occasion, with tapestries and 
banners, having upon them the armorial bearings of the knights 
there being entertained. 6 

1 For an account of Roman observances in wedding processions cf. Catullus, LXI 
(ed. R. Ellis, London, 1876), pp. 167-92. Also, Statius, Silvae (ed. F. Vollmer, Leipzig, 
1898), pp. 61-70. 

2 Cf. Galerent , vv. 6905-18; Durmars li Galois , vv. 14964-75; Floriant et Florete, vv. 
6224-31; Claris et Laris, vv. 29611-19. 

3 Cf. L'Escoufle , vv. 1704-9, and the passage in Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 8435-60, where 
a written invitation to a wedding ( au noQoier) is sent by messengers to the emperor of 
Rome. Cf. also Chevaliers as deus espies, vv. 5477-83. 

*Cf. Durmars li Galois , vv. 14938 ff. In Sone de Nausay, vv. 17982-89, the wedding 
festivity is restricted to only noble guests, whereas in Floriant et Florete , vv. 6177-80, every¬ 
one is admitted freely. 

5 Cf. La ManGJcine, vv. 2046-70, and Durmars li Galois , vv. 14938 ff., where, in each of 
these cases, the mothers of the grooms are absent from the weddings described. 

6 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 2937-47, and vv. 3441-44. 

523 


28 


F. L. Critchlow 


At a certain moment, probably upon the flourish of trumpets 
at the castle, the entire bridal company assembled and were 
arranged according to their various ranks, prior to their departure 
for the church . 1 There is clear reason to believe that the bride 
and her ladies passed, in a separate body, to the church and were 
followed later by the groom and his male friends . 2 The escorts, 
however, of the bride, mounted upon a mule or palfrey, were men 
who, themselves, were also mounted and rode, one on each side of 
the bride . 3 The poets, in their descriptions of these processions, 

1 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10759 ff; Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 3441-47; Chevalier as 
deus espies, vv. 5400-61, in which a wedding and coronation procession to a church is given in 
description; Cl6omad&s, vv. 17209-20. 

2 Cf. Escanor, vv. 23021-33; here the groom and bride proceed, apparently, together to the 
church, but the descriptions found in the romances just cited (v . supra , n. 1) give evidence 
of the separate parties, the bride with her train of attendants passing first, to the church. 
Cf. also, Floriant et Florete, vv. 6073-82, for the account of the ceremony of assisting the 
brides to alight at the church portal, likewise vide Gautier d'Aupais , p. 32. 

DESCRIPTION OF A PROCESSION IN A TRIPLE WEDDING FROM GUILLAUME 

DE PALERNE (1212 A. D.). 

The entire bridal party, both women and men, is mounted to start toward the 

church; vv. 8821-35. 

The order of procession, from the castle entrance, of the three brides; vv. 8841-57: 

1. Partenidon (escort) Alexandrine v. 8841. 

2. King of Spain (escort) Melior Felise (escort) vv. 8842-46. 

3. Emperor of Germany (escort) Florence Brande (escort) v. 8847. 

Young women, matrons, court ladies, vv. 8833-35. 

Servants carrying staves to clear the way, vv. 8855-57. 

The Brides enter the church and are escorted to the high altar, to await the Grooms, 

vv. 8860-67. 

The Grooms ( Brandin , Guillaume, Alphonse) leave the castle and proceed to the 
church after the brides, v. 8867. 

a) Priests come out from the church to meet the Grooms. 

b ) Grooms and Priests meet midway to the church. 

c) Ceremonies in the presence of the Grooms, vv. 8880-96. 

The Grooms enter the church and are escorted to the high altar, to meet the Brides, 

vv. 8900, 8901. 

The Wedding Service, vv. 8905-9. 

Coronation Service and Mass, vv. 8914-21. 

Return of the bridal party to the castle, in which the men pass first and the women 
afterward, thus reversing the order of procession from the castle 
to the church, vv. 8922 ff. 

Remabks: (a) In this procession the presence of women as escorts at the left hand of 
two of the three brides is noteworthy; in II, 1, the absence of a woman escort for Alexandrine 
is an oversight of the poet. 

(6) In II, 2, the lady escort of Melior is the mother of her groom, Guillaume. 

(c) The lady escort of Florence is the step-mother of her groom, Alphonse; cf. II, 3. 

(d) In II, 1, Partenidon was to have married the bride who figures in II, 2, but was 
rejected by her; and after serving in this procession as escort to Alexandrine, returned to 
his father, the emperor of Greece. 

3 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne, vv. 8842-47, where two brides have lady escorts who are the 
mothers of the two brides respectively. 


I. 

II. 


III. 

IV. 
V. 


VI. 


VII. 


VIII. 

IX. 

X. 


524 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 29 


lay particular emphasis upon the parts taken by the bride and her 
female attendants, and seem to overlook, nearly, the groom, in 
their attention to the bride’s progress toward the church . 1 This 
interest concerns itself also with the dress of the bride and the 
preparation of her wedding costume. Minutely detailed accounts 
are given of the fabric, its colors, adornments and style . 2 As soon 
as the wedding service has been narrated, the poets then describe 
the return of the company to the castle , 3 where the clothing that 
has been worn before the priest, is exchanged for garments suit¬ 
able to the banquet-hall . 4 

wedding banquet. 

The feast was spread and all the guests were seated in order , 5 at 
tables richly supplied with varied and sometimes marvelous dishes 
for the delectation of those present . 6 Amusement was furnished 
in the form of dance or carol, or the baiting of bears, and games 
of chess and dice . 7 Mountebanks mingled their sportiveness, 
intended perhaps to delight the humbler folk who had gathered 
at the feast , 8 with the more serious efforts of the jongleurs who 
chanted their stories after the dinner to the old men seated apart 

i Cf. CISomad&s, vv. 17722-74; Joufrois de Poitiers, vv. 926-41. One of the salient charac¬ 
teristics of the Romans d ’Aventure, as contrasted with the Chansons de Geste, is the atten¬ 
tion paid by the poet to the bride in the wedding ceremonies; cf. T. Krabbes, “Die Frau 
im altfranzOsischen Karls-Epos ’’ in E. Stengel’s Ausg. u. Abh., XVIII (1884), pp. 41, 42. 

2Cf . Jehan et Blonde, vv. 4711-15; Escanor, vv. 23036-39; Comte de Poitiers, vv. 908-25. 
Cf. also A. J. V. Le Roux de Lincy, Les femmes cilbbres de VancienneFrance (Paris, 1858), Vol. 
I, pp. 47—54, and E. Lamesaugbre, Costumes des femmes frangaises du XIP au XVIII« si&cle 
(Paris, 1827), p. 47; M. A. Racinet, Costume Historique (3e Livraison, Europe—Le Moyen- 
Age), Paris, 1876-88. Occasionally a woman is said to wear a bridal crown; cf. Galerent, 
vv. 6887, 6888: “ Puis li a sur sa sore teste, Une cercle estroicte d’or mise.” Also L'Escoufle, 
vv. 8288, 8289: “ Ele ot la blonde teste nue, Fors d’un cercle d’or a rubis.” 

3 Cf. Sone de Nausay, vv. 17055-17130. 

*Cf. Jehan et Blonde, vv. 4755-38; and La Man&kine, vv. 2321-23. 

5 Cf. Floire et Blanceflor, vv. 2843-78. 

6 Ibid., w. 2874-78. 

7 Cf. A. Schultz, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 576; Escanor, vv. 23021-29, and Le Chevalier d VEpie, 
vv. 78S-806. 

8 Cf. Floriant et Florete, vv. 6057-60. Clowns and tumblers here form a part of the wed¬ 
ding cortege and doubtless serve to amuse the crowd at the banquet-hall as well. Noise of 
all kinds, the ringing of bells and very loud music characterize all the marriage occasions 
of the Romans d 'Aventure. The sounds produced by the infinite variety of wind, string, 
and percussion instruments are likened by the poets to the thunders of heaven making a 
whole city tremble. Cf. Histoire litUraire de la France (Paris, 1842), Vol. XX, pp. 714-716, 
where a description of mediaeval instruments of music is found. 

525 


30 


F. L. Critchlow 


in the hall and listening to the noble deeds of heroes long since 
past . 1 In this manner the afternoon wore into the evening of the 
wedding day and the evening into the late night, which found the 
guests still lingering around the board, or in the hall, until feast 
turned to revel. At length the bride was conducted to the nuptial 
chamber, where she was prepared by her lady attendants to receive 
her groom. Then occurred the benediction of the priest, who 
sprinkled with holy water the nuptial couch . 2 

WEDDING GIFT. 

On the morrow in the early morning, was the time for gifts 
from the guests to the bride and the groom . 3 Whether the groom 
gave the bride a present, or vice versa , is not plain from the data 
supplied by the Romans cVAventure* Lavish gifts to the church 
are mentioned as being made by the bridal company, and are 
placed upon the altars for the priests to distribute later among 
the needy, not reserving any portion of the otfering for them¬ 
selves. 

As with any of the functions of marriage that have been con¬ 
sidered thus far, and the nature of their development, upon Chris¬ 
tian soil in France, out of the pagan character possessed by them 
in Roman life, it is to be noticed, as well also in the matter of 
wedding gifts, that Germanic influences have not interfered appre¬ 
ciably with Roman tradition . 5 The donum matutinale is referred 
to indistinctly in several romances and but one instance points 
definitely to this Germanic custom . 0 On this first morning after 

1 Cf. Claris et Laris , vv. 29611-19. 

2Cf. Guillauvie de Palerne, vv. 3456, 3457; Cteomad&s, vv. 17244-68; L'Atre p&rilleux , 
vv. 6637-42. 

3 Cf. Guillaume de Dole , vv. 5502-10; Claris et Laris , vv. 29673-81. Cf. also Amadis de 
Gaule (Lyon, 1588), Bk. IV, cap. iii, pp. 338, 339. 

4 Cf. La Man6kine , vv. 2345-60; CUomadbs , vv. 18017-30. 

5 Cf. Laisnel de la Salle, op. cit., p. 31; also E. Belloguet, Ethnoginie gauloise 
(Paris, 1861-73), Vol. Ill, p. 390, and L. Fallue, ConquUe des Gaules (Paris, 1862), p. 195-99. 

6 Cf. E Laboulaye, Condition civile et politique des femmes (Paris, 1843), pp. 117-35; 
Floriant et Florete, vv. 6282-88; and CUomadbs , vv. 17708-12. The influence of the church 
upon the institution of Morgengabe made itself felt in the conversion of the pretium viatu- 
tinale into the dowry; in the Histoire des Francs, dowry and pretium are synonymous; cf. 
Guizot, M6moiressur VHistoire de France (Paris, 1823) Vol. II, p. 30, and footnote. French 
poetry affords an instance of the primitive character of the pretium in Merovingian times ; 
cf. La Vie de Saint Alexis , vv. 41-45 (G. Paris, ed.), Paris, 1872, Biblioth&que de P^cole 
des Hautes-Etudes, Vol. VII. 


526 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 31 


the wedding day the bride and groom attended mass at the church, 
but there is no special ceremony connected with this event to 
need any elaboration at the poet’s hands. The festivities subse¬ 
quent to the wedding-day pleasures are not described in detail, 
but almost invariably the poems narrate how many days were 
taken up in celebrating the marriage at large. The length of 
time in which the visitors to the scene of the wedding are repre¬ 
sented as remaining, varies between four days and sixty days, 1 
usually, however, the guests and their hosts celebrate the occa¬ 
sion during one week, after which all take leave of the young 
husband and wife, wishing them happiness. 

TIME OF WEDDING. 

The festival days of most importance as indicated by the 
Romans PAventure are, in the order in which they occur 
during the year: Pctques , Pentecdte, Toussaint , Noel , and of 
these the first two are the most often mentioned. 2 These were 
all festival days of the church, lending themselves readily to the 
elaborate ceremonial of a royal or noble wedding. In contrast 
to the regular church seasons of religious festival, during which 
marriages were often solemnized, there were periods of the year 
in which a wedding was forbidden by the church. 3 From Sep- 
tuagesima until after Easter, and three days before St. John’s 
Day, and also from Advent until Epiphany the church refused to 
bless nuptials. 4 Doubtless these seasons were intended for fast¬ 
ing which terminated by general rejoicing on the feast days 
already designated. 5 Like the Romans, the French of the time 
in which fall the Romans PAventure , preferred the month of 
June for the celebration of weddings, whereas the month of May 

1 Cf. CUomadls , in which poem the festivities lasted only four days, while in Floriant 
et Florete , sixty days elapse. 

2 Other feast days are mentioned in the romances, especially “Jour de 1’ Ascension ” and 
“ Jour de Saint-Jean; cf. Lancelot , v. 31; Fergus , v. 6916; Erec et Enide, v. 27. 

3 Cf. J. Siemond, Concilia antiquae Galliae (Paris, 1629), p.594; here, marriages are 
not allowed on Sundays because of the special reverence to be paid to that day. 

4 Cf. MartIine et Durand, Thesaurus Nov. Anec. (Paris, 1717), col. 872, where, in the 
Gallican church, no marriage celebration was permitted during Advent. 

5 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10127,10128: “ Vigil ert de l’Asension, Que par costume 
jnne l’on,” i. e., Rogation week. 


527 


32 


F. L. Critchlow 


was commonly regarded as untimely . 1 That May was an ill- 
omened month for a marriage seems, however, to have been only 
a popular idea of the lower classes during the Middle Ages 2 since 
numerous references are given in the Romans P Aventure to 
weddings celebrated both on Ascension Day and at Pentecost .' 1 
Other seasons of the year referred to as times in which weddings 
took place are July and Christmas . 4 As the church was largely 
influential in the arrangement of the seasons for marriage, it is 
safe to infer that, where in the Romans cTAventure no time of 
year is set down by the poet, the marriage he is describing fell 
upon some one of these important festivals . 0 

Since the anniversary of a church festival did not recur upon a 
fixed day of the week in each year a marriage ceremony of the 
nobles might happen upon any day on which that festival came. 
In the case of Paques and Pentecote also Saint-Jean and Noel 
the day varies from year to year. It is therefore difficult to 
say, from the data in the romances, just what specific days of 
the week were, or were not, acceptable for marriage from whatever 
point of view . 6 There are several instances noted in which Sun¬ 
day is a day of wedding, notwithstanding the probable inconven¬ 
ience involved to the priests, whose work in the usual mass cele¬ 
brations incident to that day must have tended to prevent nup¬ 
tials.' It is very likely that Wednesday and Friday were not 

1 Cf. “ De veteri ritu nuptiarum observatio” in Gr^vius; Thes. Ant. Rovi. (Paris, 1698), 
where it is shown that neither May nor February, nor the three days of March when the feast 
of the Salii was celebrated, were fitting times for marriage at Rome, but during June was 
the most favorable period. For references to St. John’s Day in this connection cf. Chevaliers 
as cleus espies, vv. 5260-63, and J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologies 4te Aufl. (Berlin, 1875), Vol. I, 
pp. 513-15. 

2 Cf. G. Laisnel de la Salle, Croyances et ligendes du centre de la France (Paris, 1875), 
p. 21; also Romania (1880), pp. 547-70, in particular, p. 547, footnote 3. 

3 Cf. La Man6kine, vv. 2077-80; Flamenca , vv. 184,185. It will be remembered, also, that 
the marriage of the Doges with the Adriatic occurred on Ascension Day. 

4 Cf. Ille et Galeron, vv. 3962-69; Guillaume de Dole, vv. 5272-83; Jehanet Blonde, \v. 
6111, 6112: “Au chief de l’an.” 

5 In marriages of the Roman times the Calends, Nones, and Ides and all festival days, 
save for widows, were suitable for weddings; cf. Macrobius, Conv. Saturn (F. Eyssen- 
hardt, ed.), I, XV, 21, 22 (Lips., 1893). For the Christian festivals cf. L. Duchesne, Ori- 
gines du culte chrHien (2d ed., Paris, 1898), cap. vii, pp. 218-80. 

®Cf. A. L. A. Franklin, La vie privie d'autrefois (Paris, 1888), Vol. XVII, p. 34, and 
Romania, loc. cit., p. 548, n. 1. 

7 Cf. supra , p. 31, n. 3; also Galerent , v. 6706, and Flamenca , vv. 247, 248. In Raoul de 
Cambrai , vv. 6069, 6070, Sunday is given as a wedding day. 

528 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 33 


acceptable days for marriage; but that Thursday and Saturday 
were suitable seems clear. 1 

Upon the point of the time of day for a wedding the romances 
generally coincide; the custom described by the poets of a mar¬ 
riage at early dawn occurs commonly. 2 This part of the day was 
usual in Roman weddings in the late empire. 3 The early morning, 
or at least before noonday, was the proper time of weddings in 
France, and the custom may have been adopted from Roman usage, 
or, what is more likely, this time was due to the requirements of 
the church which ordered the solemnization of a sacrament by a 
fast from the middle of the night of the day on which the mar¬ 
riage was to occur. 4 Certain weddings are mentioned as occurring 
at other hours than the very beginning of day, but these are rare. 5 
In a reckoning by number of the romances which refer at all to 
the time of day of a wedding celebration, four state simply at 
sunrise and two at 9 and 12 o’clock respectively. 6 

There are numerous romances that refer to a church building 
as the scene of a wedding. Excepting those marriages celebrated 
in castles, the general course taken was for the bridal party to 
form a procession and arrive before the church portal. 7 The 
edifice, thus reached, although an important enough factor in the 
ceremonies, does not receive more than a passing mention from 
the poet. 8 The description goes no farther than to say that the 
church was long and wide or that it was situated near some open 

iCf. supra , p. 32, n. 7; Saturday as a day of consecration to the Virgin Mary was a 
favorable day for marriage. In the Romance of M&lusine Monday is a wedding day, and in 
Hugues Capet Thursday is given. 

2 Cf. Richars li Biaus, vv. 3957, 3958; Fergus, vv. 6905-8; Joufrois defPoitiers , vv. 3507-9; 
Durmars li Galois, vv. 14938, 14939. 

3 Cf. L. Friedlaender, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 466. 

i The romances show that this fasting after midnight of the wedding day was not always 
observed: cf. Joufrois de Poitiers, vv. 2106-17; Chevalier au Cygne, vv. 172-78. 

5 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10432-34; Flamenca, v. 295; Guillaume de Palerne, v. 3539: 
Here the father of the bride grows angry over the delay of a weddiqg, complaining that it is 
already 9 A. M. (tierce). 

6 Cf. Flamenca, v. 295; the time of this context is midday for the wedding, and the 
groom displays his impatience seemingly at the delay; he is represented as very happy 
when the service was over and the affair “done with,” as the poet implies. 

7 Cf. Richars li Biaus, vv. 410 ff.; Flore et Jehanne, p. 97; Sone de Nausay, vv. 17017-54; 
Jehan et Blonde, vv. 4724-41, and supra , p. 22, n. 2. 

8The words used for church building in the poems, are: “glise,” “ mestre glise,” “le 
plus mestre glise,” “li plus rice mostier majour,” etc. 

529 




34 


F. L. Critchlow 


place or square. 1 Bells are referred to in the narratives, and are 
always designated as saints possibly because of the name, inscribed 
on the bell, of the patron saint of the church. 2 Where a ceremony 
is referred to as occurring in a castle, the same religious formali¬ 
ties may be supposed for the secular places as were prescribed for 
a church edifice. The officiant in a castle is entitled chapelains , 
and the place of his functions is called chapelle . 3 What part the 
church portal played in the celebrating of a wedding service is 
not to be gathered from the romances. 4 

BENEDICTIO THALAMI. 

The ceremony, practiced during the Middle Ages in the 
Romish church, of sprinkling a bridal bed is founded upon classic 
tradition. The romance of Eracles, of Greek origin, 5 shows the 
bride as bathing two whole days before her marriage, 6 conform¬ 
ably with Greek religious custom, where bathing of the body, 
entire, was practiced. 7 As to Roman observances on this point, 
the use of running water was made with which to sprinkle the 
bride, or in fact to wash the feet of the bride and groom as a 
substitute for the Greek practice, but symbolical also of the 
idea of purity which bathing conveyed to the Greeks. 8 This 
pagan rite with its underlying motive received acceptance also in 

iCf. Cleomadbs, vv. 17764, 17765; Guillaume de Dole , vv. 4984, 4985: “Au moustier mon 
segnor S. Pierre, Qui ert coverz de fuellefs] d’ierre;” Fergus , vv. 5730, 5731: “ Devant la 
tour a.l. moustier, Ki ert molt nobles et molt chier.” 

2The names of the churches as given are, among the rest: S. Danmartin, S. Martin, 
S. Moysant, S. Nicholas, S. Piere, S. Pol, S. Wast. Authorities differ with respect to the 
origin of the Old French saint = cloche; in Romania , XVII (1888), p. 188, M. Paris derives the 
word from the Latin signum and not from sanctum , an error, as he affirms, handed down 
from mediaeval times, although he does not give any proof for his support of the former 
etymon. No patroness saints are recorded in connection with the names of a church. As to 
bells, cf. L'Escoufle, vv. 3315 and 8845. 

2 Cf. La Man6kine , v. 2032; Le comte d'Artois, p. 15; also Viollet-le-Duc, op. cit., 
Vol. Ill, p. 103. In L'Escoufle , v. 8215, tk Les 6glises del castel ” occurs. 

4 Cf. A. Cheruel, Dictionnaire historique, Vol. II (Paris, 1855), p. 735, and Beauchet, 
op. cit., p. 41, n. 3. 

5 Cf. Paris, Manuel d'ancien Francais (Paris, 1890), p. 82. 

6Cf. E. LOseth, Eracles (Paris, 1890), p. 31. 

7 Cf. Euripides’ Phamissae (Dindorf, ed., Oxford, 1882), vv. 344-49, p. 117; and the 
Scholia Grceca (ibid., Oxford, 1863), Vol. Ill, p. 126; also Aristophanes, Comcediae (ed. Hall 
et Geld art, Oxford, 1900), Vol. II, vv. 377, 378 of the Lysistrata. 

®Cf. A. Rossbach, Untersuchungen iiber die rdmische Ehe (Stuttgart, 1853), p. 366; 
Festus, De verborum signification , Bk. VI; Thilo et Hagen, Servius, Commentarii in 
Vergilium (Lips., 1881), p. 493. 


530 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 35 

Christian ceremonial. Just in what manner the priest’s blessing, 
and the use of water, came in as a church function could not be 
entered upon here, though the custom is referred to very early. 1 
The examples of bed-blessing are few in Old-French poetry; still 
they do occur, at intervals, until the later prose romances. 2 The 
j Romans d’Aventure exhibit what may be two forms of the bed 
ceremony: one, where the priest blesses the couple as they lie 
together in bed; 3 the other, where the bride is ushered into the 
nuptial chamber by her relatives or her attendants. 4 Of the 
former manner of bed-blessing there are four examples given, 
whereas of the latter there are but two. 5 This second class shows 
the priest as having completed the benediction 6 before the bride¬ 
groom appears at the chamber door. 7 One instance of a bed¬ 
blessing ceremony which gives an illustration of the scene 
together with the text, represents in the picture both bride and 
groom in bed at once, about to receive the benedictio thalami , 
but the narrative implies that the bride was put to bed first by 
her women attendants, and, after they had left the chamber, the 
groom entered and prepared himself to retire in time to receive 
the blessing of the priest when he appeared. Whatever the pre¬ 
cise order of events prescribed, whether the bride alone received 
lustration, as seems to have been the case at Rome, or whether 
bride and groom had to be sprinkled as they were in bed is not 


1 Cf. Le Fresne, vv. 415-20, and Anseis de Carthage, vv. 720-35; also Gaufrey, vv. 7416, 
7417. In MaetSne, op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 616, 617, the sprinkling of the groom and bride is 
referred to as the pair enter the church. 

2 Cf. Comte d'Artois, p. 27; also M6lusine ( Bibl. Elzev., Vol. LXXIV), pp. 64,65 (Paris, 1854). 

3 It was usual in the Middle Ages for both refined and common people alike to wear no 
night clothing in bed; on this point cf. Guillaume d'Angleterre, vv. 1214,1215 and 1279,1280; 
Durmars li Galois, v. 15162. For the description of a bed cf. La Vengeance de Ragjiidel, 
vv. 3667-70. 

4Cf. Claris et Laris , vv. 29654-60; Floriant et Florete, vv. 6261-81; Jehan et Blonde, 
vv. 4785-99; in this example, the priest blessed the bed even before the bride and groom had 
retired and while it was yet empty. Cf. also L'Escoufle, vv. 1739-46, and Clig&s, vv. 3329-35, 
and Durmars li Galois, vv. 15155-60. 

5 J. Barrois, Li livre du tr&s chevalereux comte d'Artois (Paris, 1837), p. 27. 

6Cf. Mart^ne, op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 622, 623, under Benedictio thalami: “Benedic, 
domine, thalamum hunc et omnes habitantes in eo ut in tua pace consistant et in tua volun- 
tate permaneant et in amore tuo vivant et senescant et multiplicentur in longitudinem 
dierum. Per.” 

7 Cf. Jehan et Blonde , v. 4791; in this context there is a curious account of the groom 
searching about at the entrance to the chamber in order to assure himself that there are no 
intruders near. 


531 


36 


F. L. Critchlow 


to be determined from the romances. In connection with this 
ceremony notice should be taken of a substitute for the lustration 
observance which was adopted later as a more refined form of 
procedure, namely, the use of the abrifol in wedding celebra¬ 
tions. 1 Two Romans cT Aventure refer to this covering for the 
bride and groom as they stood before the priest. 2 

MORAL STANDARD IN BETROTHAL. 

In order to fill out the discussion of the content of the 
Romans cVAventure with reference to the general subject, it is 
necessary to take account of the moral attitude of a bride to a 
groom and of husband to wife, as it is represented in the words 
of the poets. If, as is usually accepted, the Romans cTAventure 
were meant for the pleasure, specially, of women rather than men, 
it is allowable to suppose that these poems, broadly considered, 
represent a higher moral standard than otherwise might be, on 
that account. 2 Only the more salient features of this part of the 
subject can be noted, for the reason that the data are too complex 
to admit of minute classification. In the first place, a question 
of almost moral import, for those times, arising in the minds of 
women about to marry was the rank of their lovers. 3 A favorite 
situation with the poets is to represent a young man, apparently 
of obscure origin, brought by accident into acquaintanceship with 

!Cf. J. Brand, Popular Antiquities (ed. H. Ellis, London, 1843), Vol. II. pp. 141-43. 

2 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois , vv. 10822,10823: “ Trois chiers palies tint on desus, Si comme 
costume est et us;” Sone de Nausay, vv. 17893-99. Also cf. Mart^ne, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 624, 
where the use of a carecloth is mentioned in a church ceremonial before 400 A. D. Lustra¬ 
tion and the abrifol may, therefore, have gone along, side by side, and the latter ceremony 
must have survived owing to the more seemly character of the ceremonial; cf. L. Duchesne, 
op. cit., p. 417, and J. Bolland, “Acta Sanctorum,” Vita S. Emmerammi (Paris, 1867), Vol. 
VI, p. 497, col. 1. 

t 

2 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 6255 and 6255-63; here the poet expresses a subjective 
view of chastity which may be discounted in view of the fact that it appears to be, in the 
underlying motive of the poem, rather a prejudice. Cf. also Richars li Biaus , vv. 4105-12 
and 4120-25. 

2Cf. Escanor, vv. 9307-24; Comte de Poitiers, vv. 879-81 and 84-88. A jealous mother is 
shown to remonstrate with her husband concerning the subject of disparity in rank even if 
the daughter does not object; cf. Flore et Jehanne, pp. 94,95. In like manner, the inferiority 
of the woman brings about the same objections as in the case of the man; cf. Durmars li 
Galois, vv. 860-70; Chevaliers as deus espies, vv. 2822-35; Galerent , vv. 1617-26; Guillaume 
d'Angleterre, vv. 1134-60. Cf. also La chastelaine de Saint-Gille, p. 23, where a noblewoman 
exclaims against a plan of marriage where her rank is involved: J'aim miex un chapelet 
de flors que mauves mariage. In this same connection cf. P. Rajna, Le Corti di Amore 
(Milano, 1890), pp. 20 and 66. 


532 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 37 


a woman of noble birth. This woman in the course of time 
becomes enamored of him, and then there follows in the poem a 
soliloquy from her which usually exhibits the struggle between 
love and duty. 1 

The character of the love which a man holds for a woman and 
a woman for a man is generally refined, and, within the limitations 
of the morality pertaining to those times, sincere. 2 While the 
woman is the more susceptible to love, the man does not always 
conceal his feelings. 1 Each one is represented as maintaining an 
ideal of the other in their minds. 4 Integrity of life in a woman 
before her marriage and constancy to her betrothal vow, are, in 
some Romans d?Aventure the whole fabric of the story. 0 Parental 
or other control, which often determined for a woman just who 
her lover should be, in spite of her own preferences, 6 is recorded, 
in the poems, as either set wholly aside, or thwarted by means of 
ingenious stratagem. 7 The young woman, however, is generally 
allowed to go on her own way in such circumstances, and as the 
poem nears the end receives forgiveness for her indiscretion. 8 
That the betrothal pledge, whether made by the two lovers in 
secret or openly, was considered inviolable, is very clear in the 

1 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 1574-86; L'Escoufle, vv. 2890-92. 

2 Cf. M6raugis de Portlesguez , vv. 1113-19. The instances of moral laxity such as are 
found in Joufrois , vv. 4407-9 and 3949-4007, and in Conte de la Violete, vv. 3921-34, also, 
L'Escoufie , vv. 3284-87 are not at all examples of refined manners, although they do not 
vitiate the fidelity of the lovers to each other but rather indicate the strength of it; in 
the courtship of Guillaume and Aelis, the hero of this last-mentioned poem is made to say 
to the emperor who wished to take his daughter away from the young man: “ Bien saci6s 
sous son bliaut de Sire,” and a little farther on the girl explains innocently: “ Tantes foies 
que ma main ne s’ose Muchier aves mis Vos beles mains qui sont si blanches A cest bel 
ventre et a ces hanches Et tast6 mon cors en tos sens! ” 

3 Cf. La Vengeance de Raguidel , vv. 1323-27 and 1331,1332; Fergus , vv. 1848-56; Floriant et 
Florete , vv. 3927-33; cf. Claris et Laris , vv. 15202-15; here, the hero dilates on the matter of 
his love in thirteen verses, each line beginning with the word Amours . 

4 Cf. Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 9397-9410, and vv. 9343-72. 

5These poems are: Guillaume de Palerne , Conte de la Violete , Joufrois de Poitiers , 
Amadas et Ydoine, Comtesse de Ponthieu. Cf. Anglia , Vol. VI (1883), pp. 1-46. 

6 Cf. Floris et Liriope , vv. 977, 978. 

7 Cf. La Man&kine , vv. 726-29, where the heroine chops off her left hand to avoid a mar¬ 
riage with her own father, a union which the clergy for some reason had sanctioned. Other 
cases of elusion are cited in Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 3589-3613, and Floriant et Florete , 
vv. 5571-74. 

8 Cf. Durmars li Galois , vv. 1141, 1142, for an example of the freedom exercised by a 
single woman as against that of a girl in Roman times, before her marriage, as given by 
Fbiedlaender, op. cit., p. 464. Cf. also Jehan et Blonde , vv. 5359-61. 

533 


38 


F. L. Critchlow 


Romans cVAventure. 1 Should an engagement by any chance 
have to be cancelled, an indemnity was obligatory. 2 The unmar¬ 
ried women of the Romans cPAventure appear to disadvantage 
when compared with those of the modern world, particularly with 
reference to their obvious boldness in approaching a man about 
marriage and in making open their minds first to him about their 
love. 3 There seemed to be more deference required by a young 
unmarried woman than by women who were married. 4 

The motives which actuated a man contemplating marriage are 
most commonly set down as material; this is true also of the 
woman, in her relation to the man. 5 Yet above these mercenary 
incentives there rested a religious spirit of a sort which served to 
deter improper unions, and it is usually the woman who gives 
evidence of this. 6 


MORAL STANDARD IN MARRIAGE. 

In the Romans & Aventure the word druerie 1 connotes incest, 8 
or a marriage not in keeping with decency, 9 or, on the other hand, 
this word defines a perfectly proper relation of a man towards a 
woman. 19 So also drus and drue possess the meaning of lover in 

1 Cf. Galerent , vv. 6822-73; Cliomadbs, 4740-44. Other cases of this same kind are exem¬ 
plified in Galerent, vv. 2373-79; Jehan et Blonde, vv, 1893-95; Livre de Baudoyn, pp. 145,146; 
IpomGdon , vv. 10501,10502 and 10511,10512. In a very late romance the same element is found; 
cf. Jehan de Paris (ed. Mabille, Paris, 1855; Bibl. Elz&v.), pp. 115, 116. 

2 Cf. Flore et Jehanne, p. 96, and P. Chabrit, De la Monarchie frangoise ou de ses loix 
(Paris, 1783), Vol. I, p. 189. 

3Cf. A. Meray, La vie au temps des Cours d'Amours (Paris, 1876), p. 217. It is to be 
noticed that a young woman, in spite of her proposal to marriage, declares against taking 
the first step; cf. Fergus , vv. 1855, 1856: “ Miex vauroie estre mise en biere, Que primes 
d’amour le requiere;” also Ille et Galeron , vv. 3349-58. 

4 Cf. Galerent, vv. 5343-59; Partonopeus de Blois, vv. 10273-78; Blancandin et VOrgueil- 
leuse d'Amour, vv. 700-22; also Amadis de Gaule, Bk. IV (Lyons, 1588), pp. 290, 291. 

5 Cf. Comte d'Artois, p. 83, and Li livre de Baudoyn , p. 45, in which a woman exclaims: 
“ il ne me chaust se le mary que j’auray n’est gueres riche; car je le suis asses, je ne demande 
fors qu’il desporte mes oultrages. Cf. also Ille et Galeron , vv. 6523-28 and 6547-51. 

6 Cf. CMomad&s, vv. 7121-32; La Manikine, vv. 555, 710, 711; Galerent, vv. 3196, 3197; Sone 
de Nausay, vv. 2735-50. The citation from Cl&omad&s referred to here, reveals the poet as 
lauding the good old days when men married for love and not for the marriage portion; in 
the Chevalier d l ep£e, vv. 776-79, is given an instance of what the Flemish minstrel Adene^ 
le Roi yearns for in CUomadbs. 

7 Cf. Koerting, Etym. Wbuch., s. v., not a Celtic word but from a German stem. 

8 Cf. Bichars li Biaus. vv. 741 and 5032. 

^ Cf. Partonopeus de Blois , vv. 9409-12; Guillaume d'Angleterre, vv. 1119-29. 

10 Cf. Comte de Poitiers, v.986; also Richars li Biaus, v. 5008; this context affords a clear 
contrast of proper and improper love as expressed in the term druerie. 

534 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 


39 


good and bad senses. 1 The relation, of a man about to marry, to 
the woman is expressed in a variety of ways, 2 and the names for 
husband 3 and wife are several. 4 As indicative of endearment, 
either before or after marriage, the words ami and amie are 
preferred. 5 

The relation of the sexes either before or after married life 
begins is not always ideal in the Romans cT Aventure. There are 
scenes portrayed reflecting the moral condition of those times, 
which exhibit both good and bad tendencies. 0 Whether the 
romances are accurate to the letter in their delineation of life in 
this particular it is difficult to determine. 7 There is no doubt 
that felicity in married life among the nobles, of whom these poems 
treat, was attained and fostered to an extent closely approaching 
modern ideas. 8 When a woman is represented as seeking the 
company of some man other than her own husband, it is because 
either his age or jealous nature makes life a burden to her and to 
himself alike. 9 The penalty for breach of the marriage vows by a 


1 Cf. L'Escoufle, vv. 4420, 4421; IpomAdon, v. 2993; Comte de Poitiers, v. 1102; Lai de 
Melion (ed. F. Michel, Paris, 1840), p. 47. 

2 Cf. Guillaume de Palerne, v. 8767, whore a man is said to take a woman in marriage 
“ A per, a feme et a compaigne; Blancandin et VOrgueilleuse d'Amour ; v. 3517; “ Puis vous 
prenderei a moillier;” Roman de Mahomet , p. 21: “ Sa dame a femme prent.” 

3 The words, mari, baron in La Man6kine, v. 523: “De mes barons baron vous doing 
sires, in Escanor, v. 3440, occur in the meaning of husband. 

4The terms, femme and dame ( Galerent , vv. 1585,1586: “Dame seray de sa maison, Sa 
femme et sa loyal espouse;’’ moiller , La Man&kine , v. 2366; oissor, L'Escoufle , v. 2175, are 
employed interchangeably for “wife.” 

5 Cf. Cligbs, vv. 1392-97; Claris et Laris, v. 29662; Durmars li Galois , vv. 1139-41. 

6 Cf. Amadas et Ydoine , vv. 1980 ff.; Eracles, vv. 2954-57; Durmars li Galois , vv. 15713 ff.; 
Lai du Cor, vv. 345-48; Livre de Baudoyn, p. 144 —these are examples of good morals. 
L'Escoufle , vv. 6531-40, 7880 ff.; Joufrois de Poitiers , vv. 3949-4007; Conte de la Violete, 
vv. 735-46; Jehan et Blonde , vv. 1511-48; Flamenca , vv. 6885-73, are instances of question¬ 
able manners. 

"Cf. A. Schultz, op. cit., , pp. 580-82 and 595-613: E. de la Bedolliere, Histoire des 
moeurs et de la vie priv&e des Frangais (Paris, 1847), Vol. II, p. 186. 

8 Cf. Durmars li Galois , vv. 33-35, 38-45,14875 ff.; La Man6kine , vv. 2433 ff. and 6374. 
Exhortations from parents to their newly married daughters to “ love, honor, and obey ” 
their husbands appear in Cl6omad&s, vv. 18199-18207, and Guillaume de Palerne , vv. 9019-38 
and 9067-76. 

9Unconscionable disparity in the ages of a man and woman at marriage is shown occa¬ 
sionally in the poems: cf. Guillaume d'Angleterre, vv. 1263-70; Durmars li Galois, vv. 121 
and 148 ff.. For an instance of a disagreeable husband as the cause of separation from his 
wife cf. Flamenca, vv. 3240-49, and Roman de la Poire, vv. 1422-30. 

535 


40 


F. L. Critchlow 


married woman was unusually severe . 1 Of divorce, as it is known 
today, there are no real cases in the Romans cVAventure, although 
several examples are found which make clear that a separation of 
body could be consummated on sufficient grounds with regard 
either to husband or wife . 2 

The names of certain saints are mentioned in connections 
where goodly offices are needed by married women in their behalf. 
The Virgin Mary appears to be, in the romances, a tutelary 
genius of married women and protectress of orphans unmarried. 

As between the twelfth century and the thirteenth, concerning 
morality at large it is known that the former period was inferior 
in standard to the latter. The literature of both centuries offers 
this contrast, however, in that the earlier period ingenuously 
confesses the truth about itself in the Chansons de Geste whilst 
the thirteenth and following centuries cannot claim more than a 
guarded and self-conscious statement of the truth for its poets. 
This renders it difficult to determine just how far the Romans 
d? Aventure may be relied on to have reproduced the actual moral 
life of the age of their writers. In other particulars, it seems 
safe to believe the facts as to that which these trouveres have 
described in their writings on affairs of daily life and on the 

*Cf. Joufrois de Poitiers, vv. 240 ff., and Bisclavret (ed. K. Waenke). Halle, 1900, 
vv. 231-35. 

2 Cf. Itracles, vv. 5095 If.; Flamenca, vv. 6688 IT.; Jehan et Blonde, vv. 5343, 5344; Amadas 
et Ydoine, vv. 7275 IT. Sometimes the repudiation of a wife by her husband occurs after the 
manner of Roman custom ; cf. Flore et Jehanne , pp. 120,121. The Old French dessevrement 
was confused subsequently with divorce, but falsely, because the former word denotes the 
simple authorization of the church for a separation of body, without any liberty for either 
party to marry again; cf. Guizot, Hist, de la civilisation en France (Paris, 1872), p. 128. Cf. 
also Eliduc (ed. K. Warnke), Halle, 1900, vv. 1120-30. In Guillaume le Mar&chal, which is 
not fiction but history, may be seen how the demands of feudal life could override church 
regulations concerning repudiation and could obviously force a procedure “ contre sainte 
6glise; ” cf. this poem of the middle of the twelfth century in Romania, XI, 1882, p. 52, 
vv. 370-80; also M. Meyer’s comments, ibid., pp. 42, 43. 

3 Cf. Guillaume d'Angleterre, vv. 498-502, where a mother in the throes of childbirth 
prays Holy Mary for aid; Comte de Poitiers , vv. 423 fL, in which a woman invokes the Virgin 
to witness to her purity as the wife of the count. Cf. also the expressions in Floriant et 
Florete, vv. 5038-40: “Enl’6glise sainte Marie, Qui les orphelines marie;” Claris et Laris 
vv. 8485, 8486: “ La tres douce virge Marie, Qui les orfelines marie.” A newly married queen 
is represented as honoring the Holy Mother in her daily life, and following her example by 
marrying off poor but refined women; cf. La ManMcine, vv. 2433-35: “ Povres gentils 
femmes marie, Mout par demaine sainte vie Ele honneroit Dieu et sa mere.” In the poem 
Oracles, vv. 2954-57 and 2966, 2967 the same is said of Queen Athenais just after her,marriage: 
“Messes fait chanter et matines, Et fait nourrir cez orfelines, Pour l’amour Deu, le fil 
Marie Et Pour l’amour Deu les marie.” 


536 


Forms of Betrothal and Wedding Ceremonies 41 


customs of the nobility class especially with which they came 
into closer contact than did any other profession. 1 

The writer intends to give, in a future contribution, the results 
of an investigation, similar in character to this present one, but 
concerned with mediaeval German betrothal and nuptial rites and 
based upon a survey of Middle High German literature and the 
German laws incident to these ceremonials in the Middle Ages. 

F. L. Critchlow. 

Princeton, N. J. 


1 Cf. Histoire litt&raire , Vol. XXII, pp. 841-51; W. P. Ker, Epic and Romance (London, 
1897), pp. 375 ff. and 393; H. Michelant, Introductions to: Blancandin (Paris, 1867), 
Guillaume de Palerne (Paris, 1876), and Escanor (Tubingen, 1886). 


537 
















» 






♦ 





















t 








LIFE 

The writer of the above monograph was born at Belle Vue, 
Hyde Road, Manchester, England, in 1869. He received the 
degree of A. B. (Princeton) in 1896. During his residence at 
Johns Hopkins he followed courses under Armstrong, Bloom¬ 
field, Elliott, Griffin, Marden, Ogden and Warren, professors 
at the University, and under Dr. Murray P. Brush. To them 
all he offers respectful homage. 






































































































































































































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